writing & Frameworks
Essays, Frameworks,
and Mental Models
A library of writing and tools on clear thinking, better decisions, creativity, and modern life.
Recently Published
Clear Thinking
The Thinker’s Manifesto
Every waking moment, you are either thinking for yourself or being thought for. There is no neutral ground.
Rewriting the Human Operating System
When we are born, we don’t come as blank slates. Instead, a “pre-installed” system forms before we take our first breath. Transitioning from the Default to the Chosen OS isn’t about negating our instincts but moving from reacting to situations to intentionally responding to them.
The Hidden Tax of Bad Decisions: How Mental Models Can Save You Time, Energy, and Money
Cognitive scientists have mapped predictable pitfalls in our thinking that routinely derail even consequential decisions. Understanding these patterns allows us to navigate the worst of our mental blind spots.
purpose
Word of the Year: Your Cornerstone for Personal Growth
Rigid resolutions often stem from an unhealthy pressure to define ourselves through work. In contrast, a “Word of the Year” offers a flexible, reflective approach to personal growth. This guiding principle encourages ongoing self-improvement and can be adopted anytime, making it more meaningful and sustainable.
Your Reason for Being is Your Ikigai
Beyond work, find what truly makes life worth living—aligning passion, skill, and purpose for inner peace.
Personal Annual Review
This comprehensive tool guides you through introspective questions and practical strategies, helping align your actions with your values.
Modern Life
Breaking Analysis Paralysis: A Decision Maker’s Guide to Mental Models
Having more options doesn’t reliably improve our decision quality or happiness with our choices. What happens instead? Our minds often freeze up completely. When faced with too many options and information, our decision-making faculties don’t sharpen; they shut down.
Unmasking Tyranny: The Mental Models Fueling History’s Most Notorious Dictators
Unearth the mental models of history’s worst dictators. Explore their cognitive distortions to safeguard our future.
Big Tech Needs to Make Our Mental Health a Priority
In the age of pandemics and isolation, Big Tech holds the keys to our mental health. Should we be taking measures?
Is Facebook Today’s Heroin? Comic Book Art Explores Tech Addiction
With the rise of addictive technologies, it’s not hard to see how phones have permeated everyday life.
Frameworks & Mental Models
62 Models
Mental models are how you close the gap between where you are and where you could be. Frameworks for thinking. Structures that help you see what was always there but hidden by noise, speed, and assumption.
Recipes
12 Frameworks
A single mental model is a lens. A recipe is a stack — a curated combination of models that work together on a specific type of problem. Each recipe below is built for a situation most people hit repeatedly but rarely have a clear system for navigating. Pick the one that matches where you are right now.
Helping your organization navigate AI?
Advisory and fractional engagements for healthcare orgs and mid-size companies doing it right.