People, books, and breakthrough ideas—connected to the mental models and moves you can use.
3,456 entries
Effective mentors and managers increase decision-making authority through four levels as competence grows: (1) Observe and report—watch, document, discuss but don't decide; (2) Recommend and confirm—propose actions the m…
Every woodworker learns that wood is not isotropic—its properties differ dramatically by grain direction
Probability granularity is the resolution at which probabilities are expressed
Draw the items as dots and the relationships between them as lines. Use it when what matters is who connects to whom: who the hubs are, which single link bridges two clusters, and what indirect path runs from A to D. Bad at exact quantities.
Grassroots organizing builds power bottom-up through mass participation (rallies, petitions, door-knocking)
The investment failure pattern where the purchase of an overvalued asset is rationalized by the belief that someone else will pay even more for it, regardless of fundamental value
Names the observable evidence that says keep going unchanged. State what working actually looks like, not just the absence of trouble, so continuing has to be earned by a signal you can point to rather than by nobody objecting yet.
Exercise performed in natural outdoor environments produces significantly greater mental health benefits than identical exercise indoors
Nassim Taleb's concept from a trader who made millions in lumber futures while believing 'green lumber' meant lumber painted green (it actually means freshly cut, unseasoned wood)
Gresham's law describes incentives to circulate money overvalued at an official or imposed rate while retaining or diverting money undervalued at that rate relative to its market value
Grief bursts (also called grief spasms or STUG reactions—Subsequent Temporary Upsurges of Grief) are sudden, intense waves of grief that strike unexpectedly, often long after the initial loss, triggered by sensory cues,…
A protocol for the first days and weeks after experiencing a significant loss — death of a loved one, end of a major relationship, loss of a career or identity, or any event that shatters your sense of normalcy
A repeated-game strategy that cooperates until a specified defection and then defects permanently.
The griot (jeli/jali in Manding languages) is the West African hereditary custodian of oral knowledge -- historian, genealogist, musician, mediator, and living archive
GDP measures the value of final goods and services produced within an economy during a specified period
Irving Janis's concept describing a mode of thinking where the desire for group harmony and conformity overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives—producing irrational or dysfunctional decisions
Irving Janis's original groupthink model focused on cohesive groups making catastrophic decisions through self-censorship and illusion of unanimity
A four-stage protocol for coaching conversations developed by Sir John Whitmore, used to help someone think through a challenge without giving them the answer
Peter Senge's system archetype where initial growth generates demand for capacity expansion, but the organization fails to invest in capacity fast enough—causing service quality to degrade, which slows growth, which seem…
When an organization pursues growth as an end rather than a means, it metastasizes—expanding into areas where it has no competitive advantage, diluting culture, and consuming resources that should fund quality or sustain…
A living thing with parts that came from other parts. Tree, seed, roots, branches, vine. You pour a hierarchy or an accumulation into it, usually with the foundational material below and the visible output above. It handles depth and time in the same picture, which a plain tree diagram cannot. What it adds for free is one-way growth and a fixed order. Roots came before branches. Drafts, skills, and plans routinely run the other way and get rebuilt from the top.
Dweck's research applied to education shows that student beliefs about intelligence significantly affect behavior and outcomes
A distinction in Carol Dweck’s research between viewing an ability as developable and viewing it as relatively fixed
Guanxi refers to the web of personal connections, mutual obligations, and reciprocal favors forming Chinese social infrastructure