Is it possible to learn better ways of thinking? ABSOLUTELY! Here’s a wonderful way to go about it. This beautifully produced book “The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts” by Shane Parrish was born out of HIS desire to make better decisions.
G’day! Welcome my friend to WTK, the “What to know” show. I’m your host Peter, Whelan and I’ve hired, trained and managed dozens of programmers. As a programmer, you get paid to think.
The quality of your thinking depends on the models in your head. What does that mean? Mental models are tools for thinking. As you know, the better job you do of thinking, the better your work is. That improves life for you, your clients and your family. Have you given up on the idea that you can improve your life?Don’t give up! It’s important. You matter.
Shane trained as a computer programmer and ended up in a job he felt he wasn’t prepared for. So he went to work getting his MBA, Masters of Business Administration, thinking he would learn what he needed from that. He was disappointed with it. Not a productive use of his time. He’s not alone.
A friend of mine has a double MBA from Schulich. She told me that the results I’ve gotten from reading books like this and “The wit and wisdom of Charlie Munger” https://medium.com/mbreads/the-wit-and-wisdom-of-charles-t-munger-b1be3d460643 have been a profitable use of my time.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Who’s Charlie Munger? In partnership with Warren Buffet, he lead Berkshire Hathaway to fame and fortune. They are a couple of the wealthiest guys ever. Shane learned of Charlie Munger from a classmate in his MBA program so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. Shane named his company Farnham Street which is where Berkshire Hathaway headquarters are.
Get your MBA, if you want to, but learn mental models first. Also, learn how to calculate return on investment. You’ll be glad you did.
There are over 100 mental models. I’ll include a link to them in the show notes. https://fs.blog/mental-models/
It’s important that you learn them. It will enrich your life, as it has mine.
Online, you’ll get the same information that’s in this book, but you’ll miss out on the pleasure of holding this. I love the attention to detail, the binding, the paper quality, the layout and the font. It’s easy to flip to each mental model thanks to the clipped red pages in between.
It includes fascinating quotes such as
“Most geniuses, especially those who lead others, prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities, but by exploiting unrecognized simplicity’s”
Andy Benoit
So that’s what I’ve been doing!
The design and content of the book pull you into reading it. It’s a pleasure. Nicely done.
Thank you Farnham Street. I look forward to buying your next one.