Framework
Mental Models

Hanlon's Razor

Don't attribute to malice what stupidity explains

Best for
defusing conflict before reacting
Time
5–15 min
Difficulty
Beginner
Hanlon's Razor diagramSchematic of the Hanlon's Razor framework: Don't attribute to malice what stupidity explains.Malice?→Incompetence
The Hanlon's Razor diagram — Don't attribute to malice what stupidity explains.
Example

A teammate keeps missing your meeting agenda; assuming the worst

Applying Hanlon's Razor
  1. Tempting explanation — they're undermining your project
  2. Mundane explanation — calendar invite landed in their spam folder
  3. Even more mundane — they have back-to-backs and never read pre-reads
  4. Test — ask once, kindly; see what happens
  5. Cost of being wrong — assuming malice damages a real working relationship

Related frameworks

Mental Models

Occam's Razor

Prefer the simplest explanation

Mental Models

Chesterton's Fence

Don't remove what you don't understand

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Circle of Competence

Know what you know — and don't

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