Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann start their book with a delightful peek into their morning routine - taking walks after their kids head to school, discussing everything from careers to current events. Why are we telling you this? Because during these walks, they notice something fascinating: they use the same thinking tools over and over again to understand different situations. They call these recurring ideas "mental models." A mental model is simply a concept from any field that helps you...
Mental Models and Super Thinking
Ever notice how you make dozens of decisions daily without breaking a sweat? From choosing what to eat for breakfast to deciding whether to text back immediately or wait - your brain is constantly processing choices. And the mental models we were just discussing are your brain's Swiss Army knife - a collection of concepts that help you navigate these complex choices more effectively.Mental models help you be "wrong less," as the authors cleverly put it. Instead of trying to...
How Murphy's Law is a Super Model
Life has a funny way of playing tricks on us. Take the British government's attempt to name a polar research ship in 2016. They opened it up to public voting, probably expecting dignified suggestions. Instead, they got "RSS Boaty McBoatface" winning by a landslide with 124,109 votes. While they eventually named it RSS Sir David Attenborough, this amusing incident reveals a deeper truth about how our well-intentioned actions can lead to unexpected results.The same pattern emerged when Mountain Dew tried...
Spend Your Time Wisely
Time is precious, and we all get the same 24 hours each day. The challenge? Making the most of those hours. And that's why our next super model is how to spend your time wisely.Start with setting your personal north star. Just as Polaris guides travelers in the night sky, your north star is your guiding vision. It could be "being the best parent possible" or "advancing science." Having this direction helps you navigate life's choices, slowly but steadily moving...
Natural Selection Beyond Biology is A Super Model
When peppered moths in Manchester changed from light to dark as soot covered the trees, they weren't making a fashion statement - they were demonstrating natural selection in action. This powerful mental model, made famous by Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," explains how traits that provide reproductive advantages get selected over generations.But natural selection isn't just for biology class. It drives societal evolution too. It shapes everything from business strategies to social movements. Looking at your own life, you...
Statistics For Making Sense of our Uncertain World
Statistical thinking might sound like a dry topic reserved for math nerds, but it's actually a crucial super model we all need in today's data-driven world. From education policies to medical treatments, numbers and data shape decisions that affect our daily lives.Speaking of uncertainty, the authors share a perfect example about their experiences with baby sleep patterns. Their first child needed a swing to sleep, while the second one surprisingly preferred being put down drowsy but awake. Point being, even...
Scenario Planning and Super Thinking
When faced with a complex decision, many of us instinctively reach for a pro-con list. But as Weinberg and McCann show us, there's a more sophisticated approach called scenario analysis that can help us make better choices in uncertain situations.Scenario analysis involves thoroughly thinking through different possible futures - and it's not as simple as just brainstorming random ideas. Governments and large corporations dedicate entire teams to this process, carefully mapping out how different situations might unfold. Even academics and...
Game Theory for Navigating Conflicts
Conflicts, conflicts everywhere! From international political tensions to deciding who does the dishes at home. Game theory is an incredible super model to understand and handle these situations better. Game theory boils down complex human interactions into simplified scenarios with clear rules and measurable outcomes.Take the Prisoner's Dilemma - two criminals in separate cells face a prosecutor's offer. Each can either stay silent or betray their partner. If both stay silent, they each get just one year in prison. If...
The Super Model for Building 10x Teams
Our next super model has its origins in the 2004 basketball Olympics. The U.S. team, packed with NBA superstars like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, lost to Puerto Rico and ultimately settled for bronze. Meanwhile, Argentina, with far less star power, clinched gold. This wasn't just luck - it demonstrated a powerful super model about team excellence that authors Weinberg and McCann explore.This super model, which they call "Unlocking People's Potential," shows that extraordinary teams don't come from collecting individual...
Market Power
When Hatchimals hit the toy stores in 2016, parents lined up overnight just to get their hands on these electronic bird toys. While they retailed for $60, some desperate buyers shelled out up to $1,200 on eBay. THIS is what a peak market power looks like, where limited supply met sky-high demand.Market power, at its core, is the ability to raise prices without losing customers. And it's about building a castle with strong defenses, what Warren Buffett calls a "moat."...
Summary
As we've explored till now, super thinking is not just about collecting mental models – it's about truly understanding and applying them. The journey to becoming a super thinker requires dedication, practice, and most importantly, genuine comprehension rather than mere imitation. There's a difference between knowing the name of something and truly knowing it; we must strive to deeply grasp these concepts rather than simply memorizing them.
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About the Author
Gabriel Weinberg is the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine. He is also the author of The Great Race (2025) and co-author of Super Thinking (2019) and Traction (2015). Weinberg holds a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Technology and Policy from MIT. He started DuckDuckGo in 2008 as a self-funded venture, and it has grown into a business with over $100 million in revenue and multiple continents.
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