When your picture of things might be wrong
33 cards from 11 books, filed under “Seeing clearly”. Newest first; every row is the card’s title and the moment you would use it.
#c1565The Fourfold Remedy, Desire Triage, and Static vs. Kinetic PleasureUse when auditing your personal burn rate, stripping scope creep from a product roadmap, or breaking the illusion that the next tier of…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers
#c1544The Boundless Soul and the Dæmon-Filled WorldUse when diagnosing why smart people locked in private ideological bubbles exhibit rigid, convulsive reactions to basic evidence, or when…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers
#c1461Blaming the Honest WitnessA business partner explodes over an innocent audit joke and blames compliance for bad sales. Check their expense ledger for a hidden side…From A Tale of Two Cities
#c1460The Sisterhood of the LedgerColleagues gather in the breakroom to cheer a rival's public firing. Walk out of the room and refuse to join the laugh.From A Tale of Two Cities
#c1456The Cheerleader TrapAn abused team suddenly claps loudly for an unpopular executive's speech. Look past the smiles and check who is meeting after hours.From A Tale of Two Cities
#c1437Status Insults Buy Cheap Risk From AmateursWhen a senior colleague questions your grit to bait you into a failing project, demand the resource budget in writing before accepting.From The Hobbit
#c1360Your investors are business partnersYou're taking money from investors and want to know what to expect from them.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1351Find out what's actually selling the ticketsYou're paying a premium for an outside draw and haven't tested whether your own brand is the real pull.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1343Follow the sources, find who paidYou're forming a view on a contested issue from secondhand summaries.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1334Go home to your bossesYou spend most of your time with peers and insiders and want to stay anchored to the people you serve.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1320Ninety percent of your apps nobody approvedYou're planning a technology overhaul and assuming your inventory of tools is complete.From Digital Impact
#c1318Disruptive and overhyped at the same timeA debate about AI has split into hype versus skepticism and you need a working position.From Digital Impact
#c1306Data is the new sandYour organization is collecting everything in the hope it becomes useful later.From Digital Impact
#c1302Efficiency isn't always the right measureYou're automating away a customer touchpoint and measuring only time saved.From Digital Impact
#c1291Narrative contagionA story about your industry or company is spreading faster than the facts behind it.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1290Starting points decide the reactionYou're predicting the effect of a move by copying what happened when someone else made it.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1288Falling volatility says the move is tiredA trend is still going but the swings around it have gone quiet.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1286Watch for the market eating an OreoSomething that should have moved the other side didn't, and you're inclined to ignore it.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1284Am I doing this for fun or for money?You notice yourself raising the stakes on a decision because the safe version feels dull.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1283Forecasters herd to protect their careersYou're treating a tight consensus of expert forecasts as a measure of real uncertainty.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1281The calmest mind wins, not the biggest brainYou're relying on being smarter than the competition in a field driven by crowd emotion.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1279The Smarties test for adultsYou're sure the other side must see what you see.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1260Empathy is a working toolYou're trying to resolve a dispute without a real model of what the other side fears.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1244Politics is over there, life is over hereYou're pitching to people who don't follow your field and you're about to use your field's categories.From This Is the Plan
#c1232The brain jumps to conclusions, paper doesn'tYou're about to make a decision you've only reasoned through in your head.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1222The introductory lecture testYou think you understand a subject well enough to explain it, sell it or decide on it.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1221Rereading feels like learningYou're preparing for a test, a pitch or a board meeting by going over the same material again.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1220Handwriting forces you to translateYou take long notes in meetings or lectures and remember little of what was said.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1216Darwin's golden rule: write down the objection at onceYou're building a case for a plan or a thesis and want the objections in hand before anyone else raises them.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1215Hunt for the two ideas you believe that can't both be trueYour thinking on a subject feels settled and you want to find where it is weak.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1214Index by when you'll want it backYou're tagging files, research or bookmarks and the tags describe the item instead of the use.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1213Brainstorming is a memory test in disguiseA team is about to pick a direction from whatever ideas surface in a single meeting.From How to Take Smart Notes
#c1206Check the enemy's story against the groundThe only account of a group comes from its enemies.From Carthage: A New History