Mental Models

James Floyd's 11 Mental Models

A working library of decision-making heuristics. Each model has a name and a "when to use it" cue — the situational signal that should make you reach for it.

1. Redundancy. When to use it: A critical outcome depends on a single person, system, supplier, or revenue source.
2. Compound Interest. When to use it: Consistent effort is producing invisible results — or you feel the urge to abandon something directional.
3. Breakpoint & Autocatalysis. When to use it: Conditions have been slowly accumulating with no visible change, or something just shifted far beyond what the inputs would predict.
4. Darwinian Synthesis. When to use it: The rules of the game seem to have changed, or something that worked reliably before has suddenly stopped working.
5. Incentive Bias. When to use it: Someone is recommending something and they have something to gain from the outcome.
6. Social Proof. When to use it: Everyone around you seems to agree, or you feel pressure to match an apparent consensus.
7. Commitment Bias. When to use it: You've publicly championed a position, person, or decision that new evidence is now challenging.
8. Liking / Hating Bias. When to use it: You really like — or really dislike — the person central to the decision.
9. Availability Bias. When to use it: A recent vivid or dramatic event is shaping your probability estimates.
10. First Conclusion Bias. When to use it: An explanation appeared quickly and feels satisfying and complete — especially when a competing signal is present.
11. Lollapalooza Effect. When to use it: You feel unusually certain about a high-stakes decision, or multiple things you want are all pointing in the same direction.

The interactive tabs below let you practice each model in three modes: Decide walks you through real scenarios and asks which model fires; Spot shows everyday situations and asks you to name the bias at play; Teach turns the questions back on you, one model at a time; Reference lists the cues for quick lookup.