A library for people who make things.
Every creative discipline teaches craft. None of them teach thinking. One model a week closes that gap: a real person, a concrete moment, the rule, and the first move for tomorrow. Free.
Start with these three.
Three Beginner models, about half an hour in total. Each one changes a decision you will make this week.
First Principles Thinking
Wilbur Wright stood in a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, twisting a cardboard box. 5 min readEisenhower Matrix
Charles Dickens sat at his desk in Devonshire Terrace on an October evening in 1843, reading sales figures for a novel that was bleeding readers. 7 min readFour Stages of Creativity
Henri Poincaré stepped onto an omnibus at Coutances in 1880. 7 min readRecent entries
Novelty Search
In October 1959, Brion Gysin pressed a Stanley blade through mount board in his room at the Beat Hotel in Paris.
Mere Exposure Effect
On February 14, 1887, forty-seven of France’s most celebrated artists published a letter of protest on the front page of Le Temps.
Cathedral Model
Chartres, 1194. A master mason stands in ash and charred stone.
Peak-End Rule
On May 7, 1824, Caroline Unger turned a deaf man around.
Inversion
Christopher Nolan wrote Memento as a linear story first.
Gestalt Principles
Henri Matisse spent his final decade confined to a wheelchair, scissors in hand, cutting colored paper.
165 thinking frameworks for creatives.
The cognitive architecture behind every creative career that works. 800+ pages of decision-making tools adapted for artists, writers, designers, and musicians.