Research-Backed Prompt

Mental Model Extraction (How Experts Really Think)

Extract the underlying decision-making frameworks experts use. 29% faster expertise transfer when mental models are explicit. Reveals shortcuts and heuristics.

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Learning & Development

Problem-Solving & Analysis

Mental Model Extraction (How Experts Really Think)

Extract the underlying decision-making frameworks experts use. 29% faster expertise transfer when mental models are explicit. Reveals shortcuts and heuristics.

mental-models

expertise-transfer

decision-making

heuristics

learning

wisdom

Variables

Expert or Role *

Domain/Discipline *

Prompt

Expert: 
Domain: 

Extract their mental models:

1. Core heuristics:
   - What rules-of-thumb do they use?
   - What patterns do they recognize instantly?
   - What do they check first?
   - What do they ignore?

2. Decision framework:
   - How do they approach problems?
   - What questions do they ask?
   - In what order?
   - Which factors matter most?
   - How do they weigh trade-offs?

3. Mental shortcuts:
   - When do they take calculated risks?
   - When do they play it safe?
   - How do they handle uncertainty?
   - What do they assume?

4. Red flags & warning signs:
   - What immediately tells them something is wrong?
   - What do they watch for?
   - How do they catch problems early?

5. Experience-based wisdom:
   - What did they learn the hard way?
   - What mistakes have they seen repeatedly?
   - What works that seems counterintuitive?
   - What fails despite looking good?

6. Tools & frameworks they use:
   - What mental models do they explicitly reference?
   - What's their favorite framework?
   - How do they communicate complex ideas?

7. Application:
   - How would you apply their model to your problem?
   - What would they notice that you miss?
   - What's the simplest version of their approach?

Examples

Input

{
  "expert": "A staff engineer at Google who scaled systems from 100K to 1B QPS",
  "domain": "Distributed systems and infrastructure scaling"
}

Output

Extracted heuristics, decision framework, mental shortcuts, red flags, experience-based wisdom, and application guide for scaling systems.

Sources

https://fs.blog/mental-models/

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