Psychology Frameworks

Purple Team Synthesis

Red + Blue = Unified Security

Integrate offensive red team attacks with defensive blue team posture. Think like adversary and protector simultaneously.

Origin: Military Wargaming / InfoSec

OODA Loop

Observe → Orient → Decide → Act

Boyd's decision cycle for incident response. Execute faster loops than your adversary to control the engagement.

Origin: Col. John Boyd (USAF)

Hanlon's Razor

Incompetence before Malice

Never attribute to malice what is adequately explained by incompetence. Prevents alert fatigue and social friction.

Origin: Robert J. Hanlon

Zero Trust

Never Trust, Always Verify

Eliminate implicit trust zones. Every request must be authenticated, authorized, and encrypted—CEO or contractor.

Origin: Forrester / John Kindervag

Gall's Law

Complex from Simple

Every working complex system evolved from a simpler working system. Start small, iterate, maintain functionality.

Origin: John Gall, Systemantics

Conway's Law

Architecture ≈ Communication

Organizations design systems that mirror their communication structures. Solo builders create monoliths.

Origin: Melvin Conway (1967)

Cognitive Load Theory

3-5 Chunks Maximum

Working memory is limited. Minimize extraneous load, optimize germane load for schema building.

Origin: John Sweller

Second-Order Thinking

"And then what?"

Every decision creates cascading consequences. First-order solves; second-order prevents new problems.

Origin: Howard Marks

Map vs Territory

Abstraction ≠ Reality

The model is not reality. Documentation is rarely synced with code. Trello is not the iteration.

Origin: Alfred Korzybski

AI Collaboration

Three Cursor Mindsets

Generator → Rubber Duck → Pair Programmer

Evolve from "do it for me" to symbiotic collaboration. Maintain architecture while AI handles implementation.

Origin: JMFG Framework

AI Collaboration

Prompt Mapping

Context Layers for AI

System → Architecture → Component → Implementation. Provide the right context at the right level.

Origin: JMFG Framework

AI Collaboration

Vibe Coding

I'll Know It When I See It

Intuition-driven iteration. Powerful for exploration, dangerous for production. Know when to crystallize.

Origin: Andrej Karpathy

Fundamental Attribution Error

Character vs Circumstance

We attribute others' mistakes to character, our own to circumstance. Invert this for code review peace.

Origin: Lee Ross (Social Psych)

Narrative Fallacy

Stories Feel True. Reality is Messier.

We crave coherent stories. We impose causality on chaos, patterns on noise, inevitability on randomness.

Origin: Nassim Taleb

Dunning-Kruger Effect

Mt. Stupid → Valley → Mastery

Beginners overestimate abilities. Experts underestimate. The journey passes through humility.

Origin: Dunning & Kruger (1999)

Sunk Cost Fallacy

The Past is Irrelevant

We irrationally continue investments because of costs already incurred. Only future value matters.

Origin: Behavioral Economics

Spotlight Effect

Nobody's Watching

You're the center of YOUR universe—not anyone else's. People notice you far less than you think.

Origin: Gilovich (1999)

Shu-Ha-Ri

Follow → Break → Transcend

Japanese mastery stages. Shu (copy exactly), Ha (understand & customize), Ri (intuition flows naturally).

Origin: Aikido / Noh Theatre

Feynman Technique

Teach to Learn

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it. Explain to CEO and Lead Dev to verify mastery.

Origin: Richard Feynman

Janusian Thinking

Simultaneous Opposites

Hold two opposing ideas simultaneously and find synthesis. Security paranoia + psychological openness.

Origin: Albert Rothenberg

1000 True Fans

Deep Over Wide

1000 devoted supporters at $100/year = independence. The Long Tail enables niche global audiences.

Origin: Kevin Kelly (Wired)

Effectuation

Means Over Goals

"What can I build with what I have?" vs "What do I need for this goal?" The Indie Hacker's logic.

Origin: Saras Sarasvathy