(PMM = Picturing Mental Models. A “mental model” is a way to think about something)

I have three pictures I use for a practical “theory of mind”:

1) A Junction Box

The brain is like a junction box, it links the senses with thoughts (other neurons firing), actions (neurons firing to contract muscles) and emotions (neurons firing to release hormones).

2) An Iceberg

The brain is like an iceberg. Most of the activity is below the surface.

We’re not aware of most of the signaling going on inside our heads.

There is a ton of information from sensory cells which is constantly being filtered out and happening below our conscious level of awareness.

3) Rain Chains

This one is subtle, but powerful. In many ways it expands on the idea of the iceberg.

Neurons are like a rain chain. Rain chains channel water from gutters on the roof to the ground. Neurons channel sensations into thoughts, emotions and actions.

Here’s a picture of a fancy rain chain made of watering cans which makes the the concept a little easier to see:

With the watering can rain chain, water flow is slowed down, which makes it easier to visualize a couple interesting aspects:

• The water coming out of the spouts is a collection of water from all across the roof. Likewise, our actions, thoughts and emotions are generated by a dynamic mix of sensations (a bunch of individual neurons firing).
• Water continues to flow out of the bottom of the rain chain after the rain stops hitting the roof. Likewise, we can have thoughts, actions and emotions which are disconnected from the initial trigger.

These three pictures provide the foundation for 1st principles which I’ve found extremely useful when it comes to learning and performance:

• The brain does two things: it filters and it links.
• At any given moment there is a finite amount of energy available in the brain to fire neurons.
• At any given moment I’m only aware of a small part of what’s going on in my head.

With these 1st principles in mind, I’ve found it helpful to simplify learning as a process of tuning filters and growing links. My filters determine what captures my attention and my beliefs are stored as links between information.

Getting from “Oh no!” to “Aha!” to “Done!”

“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things everyday.”

-Lao Tzu

---

The Rules:
1) Define Terms
2) Make Choices

The LFP system is designed for one purpose: to link information to action to outcome under pressure.

Knowledge, wisdom and skill are all different things:

• Knowledge is an understanding of how information links together.
• Wisdom is an understanding of what information is relevant to a specific context.
• Skill is the ability to link a signal to an action in time to produce an intended outcome.

Deciding on an action is context dependent.

The process of building a framework and then making conscious decisions about how you are going to link together your beliefs is what makes a LFP pyramid useful. It’s deceptively simple and remarkably powerful.

A common approach to a complex, uncertain future is to try and predict a range of different possibilities:

LFP is a fundamentally different approach.

Time is spent:

• Identifying useful signals.
• Identifying actions where a little effort can dramatically influence a system (i.e. leverage).
• Understanding the relationships between signals, actions and outcomes within systems.

The pyramid structure is intentional and a critical part of LFP.

• It starts with a single entry point.
• The pyramid branches down to a foundation of feedback loops.
• Each branch point has a maximum of three branches.

Improving your pyramid as you learn is where the choices come in.

It takes work to define terms and then choose where they go in the structure.

The definitions and choices are critical pieces of the process. The constraints of definitions and choices are where the practical learning takes place.

The definitions and choices are a way to learn for performance, to learn with the intent of linking specific information to specific actions to generate specific outcomes.

Here are the first three levels of the framework I’ve been using for learning about how our bodies work, how we think and how we relate to each other:

Here’s a little different view of the same information to make it easier to read:

Circling back to where we started, the purpose of the LFP Pyramid is to link information to action to outcome under pressure.

The picture above is just the top three layers of the LFP pyramid I use.

As an example, level 4 for “food” branches to digestion, inflammation and energy. I’m sensitive to the signals I’ll get from eating specific things like sugar and seed oils. I eat 2-3 times a day every day so I’ve got active feedback loops linking the foods I eat to how they impact digestion, inflammation and energy.

Just like your reaction to specific foods will be different than mine, the terms you use for your LFP pyramid will probably be different than the terms I chose.

Spending time building a framework which ties broad but vague terms like “health” or “fitness” or “politics” or “economics” with specific signals linked to specific actions and outcomes is how a LFP pyramid will help you get from “Oh no!” to “Aha!” to “Done!”

---

Thanks for reading. You can find out more about my background: here.

If this approach resonates with you, I highly recommend two books:

The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz, which provides a practical, easy to follow, step-by-step process for strategic planning within complex systems.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows is by far the best book I’ve found on systems thinking.