Discover the essential thinking tools you’ve been missing with The Great Mental Models series by Shane Parrish, New York Times bestselling author and the mind behind the acclaimed Farnam Street blog and “The Knowledge Project” podcast.

This first book in the series is your guide to learning the crucial thinking tools nobody ever taught you.

Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models–representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields.

Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back.

The Great Mental Models: Volume 1, General Thinking Concepts shows you how making a few tiny changes in the way you think can deliver big results.

Drawing on examples from history, business, art, and science, this book details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making and productivity.

This book will teach you how to:

• Avoid blind spots when looking at problems.
• Find non-obvious solutions.
• Anticipate and achieve desired outcomes.
• Play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses,

… and more.

The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.

Shane is the founder of Farnam Street, and currently resides in Ottawa, Canada. Farnam Street (FS) is one of the world’s fastest growing websites, dedicated to helping our readers master the best of what other people have already figured out. We curate, examine and explore the timeless ideas and mental models that history’s brightest minds have used to live lives of purpose. Our readers include students, teachers, CEOs, coaches, athletes, artists, leaders, followers, politicians and more. They’re not defined by gender, age, income, or politics but rather by a shared passion for avoiding problems, making better decisions, and lifelong learning.

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Rhiannon Beaubien is a writer and the managing editor at Farnam Street Media where she leads the development of The Great Mental Models book series. She is based out of Ottawa, Canada and regularly explores how to apply the timeless ideas behind mental models on fs.blog. She worked at a Canadian intelligence agency for more than ten years and is also an author of fiction.

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