Really liked today's newsletter! Makes me wonder about sleep & if your brain subconsciously is organizing/solving problems so you have that "aha moment!" when you wake up.
REM sleep is known to help with learning and creativity. Also, there's some interesting stuff about neuroplasticity, sleep, and the power of play in helping rewire your brain. I've been listening to the Huberman Lab podcast, which I would recommend if you're interested in digging deep into your question. https://hubermanlab.com/
And how do you develop those shortcuts ? Repetition and practice help but each scenario is unique (it might have same underlying principles). So if inversion is one thing, what other models you can bring up with a 1 liner in any situation.
"An employee complaining about too much work" - what all quick questions you will ask to figure out a solve for this problem (if it indeed is a problem) and how do you fit that with your constraints for example no budget to hire more and too much pressure from your superiors to deliver things fast
My best guess for an answer to your question about how to develop mental models, Amit, is a lifelong commitment. I'm only toe-deep in. Here's a list of mental models to start off with: https://fs.blog/mental-models/.
I read the uniqueness of each situation that you talk about as 'context', and I do agree that context is important. When we only know little, which is when we only have a hammer, every solution looks like a nail. It leads to poorly designed solutions. At the same time, as you also hint at, there are underlying similarities. These are the cliches that have stood the test of time.
to your question on too much work, here are a couple of ways you could approach the question. And I'll tag the mental model along side the approach.
1) Imagine if the employee had 50% more time, would it solve all problems and lead to them having the expected impact? Which means is time the main issue?
Now imagine you had unlimited budget and you could hire whoever you want. Would that solve your problem for good, or is it a question of as one of my colleagues used to say, trying to deliver a baby in a month with nine mothers--Both are thought experiments.
2) Is the employee adequately skilled tp to carry out their responsibilities? What is lacking? Can it be acquired on the job?--Circle of competence
3) Why is there too much pressure from superiors, which you see as unreasonable? Is it a question of expectation mismatch where their read of the best/expected outcome is not the same as yours? And why could that be happening? Maybe the superiors are following a mental map that's different from reality -- Map is not the territory
Really liked today's newsletter! Makes me wonder about sleep & if your brain subconsciously is organizing/solving problems so you have that "aha moment!" when you wake up.
Thanks, Mike!
REM sleep is known to help with learning and creativity. Also, there's some interesting stuff about neuroplasticity, sleep, and the power of play in helping rewire your brain. I've been listening to the Huberman Lab podcast, which I would recommend if you're interested in digging deep into your question. https://hubermanlab.com/
And how do you develop those shortcuts ? Repetition and practice help but each scenario is unique (it might have same underlying principles). So if inversion is one thing, what other models you can bring up with a 1 liner in any situation.
"An employee complaining about too much work" - what all quick questions you will ask to figure out a solve for this problem (if it indeed is a problem) and how do you fit that with your constraints for example no budget to hire more and too much pressure from your superiors to deliver things fast
My best guess for an answer to your question about how to develop mental models, Amit, is a lifelong commitment. I'm only toe-deep in. Here's a list of mental models to start off with: https://fs.blog/mental-models/.
I read the uniqueness of each situation that you talk about as 'context', and I do agree that context is important. When we only know little, which is when we only have a hammer, every solution looks like a nail. It leads to poorly designed solutions. At the same time, as you also hint at, there are underlying similarities. These are the cliches that have stood the test of time.
to your question on too much work, here are a couple of ways you could approach the question. And I'll tag the mental model along side the approach.
1) Imagine if the employee had 50% more time, would it solve all problems and lead to them having the expected impact? Which means is time the main issue?
Now imagine you had unlimited budget and you could hire whoever you want. Would that solve your problem for good, or is it a question of as one of my colleagues used to say, trying to deliver a baby in a month with nine mothers--Both are thought experiments.
2) Is the employee adequately skilled tp to carry out their responsibilities? What is lacking? Can it be acquired on the job?--Circle of competence
3) Why is there too much pressure from superiors, which you see as unreasonable? Is it a question of expectation mismatch where their read of the best/expected outcome is not the same as yours? And why could that be happening? Maybe the superiors are following a mental map that's different from reality -- Map is not the territory
On the topic of trust, I loved the way how Tobi Lütke explained it with "Trust battery". Simple and can be used in most teams/groups.