Sources of Power
by Gary Klein
Klein's naturalistic decision research with firefighters, pilots and nurses: experts do not compare options; they recognize patterns and mentally simulate the first workable action. The recognition-primed decision model, the pre-mortem and the role of stories and expertise make this the essential counterweight to the heuristics-and-biases literature.
Read it if…
you make fast decisions under pressure and want to understand how expertise actually works.
Skip it if…
you want a checklist; this is about intuition's structure.
Three things you will actually use
- Experts recognize, then simulate; they do not deliberate.
- Intuition is pattern recognition from experience.
- Pre-mortems surface what optimism hides.
Do this first
Run a pre-mortem on your next plan: it has failed; write why.
Our verdict
Essential and underread.
Compare with other Mindset books
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life
Steven C. Hayes with Spencer Smith · Mindset
The source; dense and rich.
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