Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M5566

Triage

Triage
BusinessHigh supportManagement
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

When there are too many casualties and insufficient medical resources, the injured are divided into three categories: 1. Minor injuries (can survive without treatment); 2. Severe but treatable injuries (will survive if treated, die if not); 3. Fatal injuries (will die even with treatment). Doctors only treat category 2.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Resource allocation in extreme environments. When resources are extremely scarce (e.g., startup crisis), triage must be executed ruthlessly. Abandon businesses that "will survive anyway" and those that "cannot be saved even with help", and pour all resources into marginal businesses that "will survive with resources, die without".

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Originating from battlefield/disaster medicine. When resources are scarce, prioritize by "severity of injury × treatability", directing limited resources to those with the highest marginal benefit (treatable severe injuries), while abandoning the doomed and the self-healing. The mechanism is "maximizing marginal life benefit".

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit