--- title: Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking description: Use decision trees canonical: https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-06T11:00:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:20:09.913Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking og:description: Use decision trees og:url: https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eaf1969a1ab699e/69878703e20a870c2da85f21/500094285-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: teenager-standing-fork og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking twitter:description: Use decision trees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eaf1969a1ab699e/69878703e20a870c2da85f21/500094285-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish May 6, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Germany, Baden-Wurttemberg, Teenage boy standing at crossing Germany, Baden-Wurttemberg, Teenage boy standing at crossing Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish May 6, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Becoming a better thinker means understanding the way you think and developing a way of approaching problems that allows you to see things from multiple lenses. These lenses, or [mental models](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/), are built on the foundations of physics, biology, math, psychology, as well as history and economics. The more tools you have in your mental toolbox the better able you will be to make an incrementally better decision. These tools also allow you to better understand when to follow and when to reject conventional wisdom. Ideally you want to go through them [checklist style](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/the-checklist-manifesto/) — just run right through them — asking what applies. **Consilient Thinker** John Snow was a doctor based in London during the acute cholera outbreak of the summer of 1854\. He represents a powerful example of the impact a lollapalooza effect can have. A lollapalooza is when several ideas combine to produce an unusually powerful result. Snow developed systems to ease the pain of surgery with ether and chloroform. In the book [The Ghost Map](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594482691/farnamstreet-20), author Steven Johnson explains: --- > “” --- Suspending belief in the common theory at the time on how diseases were spread, Snow ended up rejecting miasma theory, which said the disease was spread via “bad air.” He did this through science. He conducted interviews with residents and traced the majority of cases back to a single water source. His willingness to challenge conventional thinking, along with approaching the problem through multiple lenses, resulted in finding the deadly source and changes in municipal water systems from that day forward. \*\*\* **Elements of the mental framework** Charlie Munger is a strong advocate of a mental framework. In [Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471446912/farnamstreet-20), he offered [five-simple notions that help solve complex problems](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/06/charlie-munger-notions/). In [The Focused Few: Taking a Multidisciplinary Approach to Focus Investing](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061597693X/farnamstreet-20), Richard Rockwood explores the concepts from many disciplines. Adding them together can yield a useful mental checklist. **Element 1: Invert** In [The Focused Few](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061597693X/farnamstreet-20), Rockwood writes: --- > “” --- **Element 2: First- and second-level thinking** In [The Focused Few](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061597693X/farnamstreet-20), Rockwood writes: --- > “” --- Second-level thinkers, in contrast, approach decisions differently. What kinds of questions should a second-level thinker ask? In his book, [The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0231153686/farnamstreet-20), Howard Marks provides a useful list of questions to ask. --- > “” --- **Element 3: Use decision trees** In [The Focused Few](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061597693X/farnamstreet-20), Rockwood writes: --- > “” --- **Element 4: The multidisciplinary approach** --- > “” --- [The Focused Few](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061597693X/farnamstreet-20) goes on to explore more of the elements of multidisciplinary thinking. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/"},"headline":"Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking","datePublished":"2015-05-06T11:00:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:20:09.913Z","description":"Use decision trees","url":"https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eaf1969a1ab699e/69878703e20a870c2da85f21/500094285-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eaf1969a1ab699e/69878703e20a870c2da85f21/500094285-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"teenager-standing-fork","caption":"teenager-standing-fork","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3773931/developing-mental-framework/","name":"Developing a Mental Framework for Effective Thinking"}}]}] ```