A mental model is a compact way of seeing how the world works — a lens like inversion or incentives that makes a confusing situation suddenly legible. Reading a list of them is easy; the hard part is having the right one fire in the middle of a real decision. That's what Too Hard Pile trains: each model below is explained with examples, and each links to drills that make you use it before anything is revealed.
Inversion
The starter move: find the bricks, walk around them.
Read the article → 🧱First principles
Melt it down. Rebuild from what is actually true.
Read the article → 🌊Second-order thinking
Every action has an echo. Hear it before you act.
Read the article → 🌳Root analysis
Every problem has roots. Find them and anything can be solved.
Read the article → 🥕Incentives
Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.
Read the article → 🔮Premortem
Attend the funeral before the launch.
Read the article → 🪂Risk and margin of safety
Plan for the average, die by the variance.
Read the article → 🌫️Deciding in the fog
Perfect information never arrives. Decide well anyway.
Read the article → 🧩The complete picture
Do not judge the frame. See the whole film.
Read the article → ⚖️Risk to reward
Every yes is a hundred quiet nos.
Read the article →Facing a decision right now?
The free Decision Toolbox has premortem, 10/10/10, weighted pros & cons, a root-cause ladder for your own problem, and four more tools you can use this minute — no account needed.