Michael Lissack
innovation, and determine whether organizations can adapt to a changing marketplace. In a world drowning in data but starving for meaning, your ability to navigate mental models may be your most valuable business skill. What Are Mental Models? At their most basic, mental models are simplified representations of how something works in the real world. They are the internal pictures we create to understand complex systems, situations, relationships, and con- cepts. Just as maps are not the territory they represent but provide valuable guidance for navigating it, mental models are not reality but provide a framework for interpreting and acting in it. These internal representations aren’t static images but dynamic sys- tems that include assumptions, beliefs, experiences, values, and knowl- edge. They influence how we: • Perceive information (what we notice and what we ignore) • Interpret events (the meaning we assign to what happens) • Make predictions (what we expect to occur next) • Make decisions (how we choose to respond) • Communicate with others (how we express our understanding) Consider a marketing director who believes that social media rep- resents the future of customer engagement. This mental model will influ- ence which market data she pays attention to, how she interprets customer feedback, which campaign strategies she proposes, which metrics she values, and even how she communicates with team members. Another marketing director who believes that premium brands re- quire premium traditional advertising channels will navigate the same business landscape in profoundly different ways, even when presented with identical information.
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