At 05:39 AM 22/03/99 EST, Glen wrote:
>It isn't really a question of whether we use models, scientifically
>trained or not, in our brains. It appears more an issue of how we
>communicate those models. Whether those models are closer to the territory
>forwhich we are attempting to understand. What in statistics is called a
>goodness of fit test. How close does the model represent the territory.
Some thought on this thread .... My understanding of the use of mental
models is that we all have them - based on our every day experiences and
exposures to such things as university study. The challenge is to become
aware of them and identify how they affect our thinking and behaviour so
that we can change/update them a we go.
I think it was the original post on this topic where concern was expressed
about people using their mental models as a defence - and some people hold
on way too long to outdated beliefs. When I was studying and doing some
parallel personal growth workshops I was saddened by some of the older men
who had their picture of their lives rigidly held in place until a major
life event - often their partner leaving - triggered some naval gazing.
One sad comment went something like "...I wish I'd realised this years
ago".
People choose to hold onto their mental models and not review them in
terns of your "goodness of fit test", often not even becoming aware of
them, and their impact until major changes wake them up - and I think that
many of these "wake up calls" are now happening at work - it is all part
of the change process, and probably keeps people in resistance mode for a
while. I agree with your comment
>It appears more an issue of how we communicate those models
Is culture a collective communication, verbally and non-verbally of shared
mental models?
Cheers
Nicky
Nicky Kain
HR Planning and Development Consultant
WA Police Service
Ph (08) 9268 7849
--Nicky Kain <pd84241@wapol.gov.au>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>