Charlie Munger is Warren Buffett’s partner and the Vice president of Berkshire Hathaway. Munger is known for advocating the use of mental models in thinking. Mental models are big ideas from multiple disciplines like science, literature, economics etc. and help in understanding situations really well and can help one de-clutter and make better decisions. 

One such mental model that I have come across is the Gordian Knot.

According to the legends, the Gordian Knot was a complex knot that was impossible to unravel. It is said that Alexander the great was told that if he could unravel the knot he would conquer Asia. Alexander tried and tried and yet he didn’t succeed. Then finally, he took out his sword and cut the rope. He reasoned that the final outcome didn’t matter on the method. In other words, the Gordian Knot is a metaphor for a simple strategy that solves the main objective without trying to solve for the local optima.

Many a times, we find ourselves in difficult situations. Like multiple knots there are multiple stakeholders and satisfying each of them is like trying to find a local optima. But solving for local optima is usually not a good strategy as time and resources get distracted from the main objectives.

For example, our politicians may try to build consensus among partners on major reforms. But each partner may have it’s own agenda – like upcoming elections in its own state. Trying to solve the bigger problem (of how to push through major reforms) may take a back seat and instead trying to appease each stakeholder (like untying each knot one by one) may become a priority. Much time may get wasted in this approach and therefore like Alexander the politicians should go straight ahead and push through the reforms and work through consequences later. 

Another useful hack that Munger loves is the idea of inversion. If you understand the Gordian Knot, you may also appreciate the importance of avoiding knotty situations and keeping things simple. For example, businesses that are wise, like to keep their supply chains simple and ask suppliers to have factories nearby. Complex supply chains tend to throw up other challenges from time to time (knotty situations) and therefore the resources of the Business could get diverted from the main objective into unraveling the supply chain issues. 

Mental models (multidisciplinary thinking) are a fun way to look at the world. As Munger says: “If you skillfully follow the multidisciplinary path, you will never wish to come back. It would be like cutting off your hands.”