It's ok to "forget" what you read (https://medium.com/the-polymath-project/its-okay-to-forget-what-you-read-f4ef1c34cc01) as books update our mentalmodels or how we perceive the world. What books have made the biggest impact on your mentalmodels?
Read the piece by Mutaschak[1] yesterday and found myself agreeing with components of the piece but distinctly feeling that some well-crafted books take a more active role in conveying and teaching mentalmodels than simply summarized facts (which can be done well, but is subject to being forgotten).
The question, then, is what books effectively introduced a new mental model or perspective?
Two recent examples from my own reading, non-fiction and fiction:
Loonshots (Bahcall) - model & "rules" for structure of innovation in orgs is introduced, discussed from various perspectives, examples given, summarized in text, repeated.
Overstory (Powers) - character stories all reinforce the perspective of an alternative relationship with trees and plants, the giant ecosystem and systems thinking.
I use this mental model called 'Play to your strengths'. It's more a saying than a model, but a model nonetheless. Anyways it has helped me build great things, since I can only ever build on strength. I fix my weaknesses where I can, but I don't pay my weaknesses too much attention.
There's this whole cult about 'fixing' yourself, and seminars galore by 'successful people' who want you to mimic their behaviors so you can be 'successful' too, so I avoid this groupthink.
What other little sayings do you repeat to yourself or what other mentalmodels do you employ daily?
I've been programming all my life and creating drawings/diagrams of anything comes very natural to me. While this happens all the time in my head, I still grab a pen and paper sometimes when the mental overhead becomes too much. Currently, I'm struggling with a junior colleague. He comes from a different background (sales). Adjusting existing code, fixing and improving features is not a problem for him, but as soon as something becomes more complex he struggles a lot - even simply drawing it on a paper completely blocks him. I'm looking for advice or resources that can help him improve this skill.
I have two sons, and I want them to grow up with useful mental frameworks about the world. What mentalmodels have you come to believe that you wish you had adopted earlier?
Here are three I've been contemplating.
1) When I fail at something, it is not an indictment of my moral being. On the contrary, failures make me a better person.
2)My formal education may incentivize me to find correct answers to solvable problems. But I will explore problems that don’t have an answer, since these are the ones that change society.
3)Curiosity is the foundation of understanding. When I disagree with someone, I will seek to understand rather than attack.
