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Mental Models

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Joshua Russo Innovation Manager| Lifoam Industries Huntsville, Al, United States
I've read a couple of articles lately about the usefulness of so-called Mental Models. The lists I read were a mishmash of analytical concepts (e.g. The long tail), decision tools (e.g. Root cause analysis) and logical fallacies (e.g. False dichotomy). But mishmash aside, many were useful ways to frame, think about, or communicate real-world issues and problems. What are some concepts, metaphors, or logical tools that you've run across or found useful?
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Cris Casey Managing Director| Exertus, Inc.
Hi Joshua -

Interesting topic. In my experience I have found that iterative development of graphical models in real-time by stakeholders can result in alignment of mental models where the initial state is one of confusion or contentiousness.

Kindest regards,

- Cris
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1 reply by Joshua Russo
Jan 27, 2017 1:41 PM
Joshua Russo
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Interesting, Chris, thank you! I received a training years ago where the instructor referred to "mutual mystification", where folks could discuss a topic or objective, using agreed-upon words, but while holding different meaning for those words. Result was agreement without agreement! In the sense that 'mental models' can represent how a participant pictures a concept, I agree 100% - graphical representations can go a long toward aligning definitions and reducing "mutual mystification"
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Stéphane Parent Self Employed / Semi-retired| Leader Maker Prince Edward Island, Canada
As Sergio would say, you can use the Cone of Uncertainty principle.
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1 reply by Joshua Russo
Jan 27, 2017 2:04 PM
Joshua Russo
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I like this one a lot, Stéphane, and actually just discovered it recently in this amusing article about software estimating - http://ardalis.com/5-laws-of-software-estimates

Thanks to Google, I was able to pick up that Sergio is a member of this community and thanks to one of Sergio's posts that Barry Bohm is the Software Engineer and Comp Sci Professor who brought this mental model into broad use in software engineering and subsequently project management.

I think the value of the model comes from it's inherent or intuitive truthfulness (with greater distance or greater scope comes greater uncertainty), as well as its frequent use in meteorology to show the potential divergent paths of big storms. It's that visual representation (which Cris Casey would appreciate) that makes it easy to understand and useful for communicating.
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Joshua Russo Innovation Manager| Lifoam Industries Huntsville, Al, United States
Jan 25, 2017 2:51 PM
Replying to Cris Casey
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Hi Joshua -

Interesting topic. In my experience I have found that iterative development of graphical models in real-time by stakeholders can result in alignment of mental models where the initial state is one of confusion or contentiousness.

Kindest regards,

- Cris
Interesting, Chris, thank you! I received a training years ago where the instructor referred to "mutual mystification", where folks could discuss a topic or objective, using agreed-upon words, but while holding different meaning for those words. Result was agreement without agreement! In the sense that 'mental models' can represent how a participant pictures a concept, I agree 100% - graphical representations can go a long toward aligning definitions and reducing "mutual mystification"
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Joshua Russo Innovation Manager| Lifoam Industries Huntsville, Al, United States
Jan 25, 2017 2:56 PM
Replying to Stéphane Parent
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As Sergio would say, you can use the Cone of Uncertainty principle.
I like this one a lot, Stéphane, and actually just discovered it recently in this amusing article about software estimating - http://ardalis.com/5-laws-of-software-estimates

Thanks to Google, I was able to pick up that Sergio is a member of this community and thanks to one of Sergio's posts that Barry Bohm is the Software Engineer and Comp Sci Professor who brought this mental model into broad use in software engineering and subsequently project management.

I think the value of the model comes from it's inherent or intuitive truthfulness (with greater distance or greater scope comes greater uncertainty), as well as its frequent use in meteorology to show the potential divergent paths of big storms. It's that visual representation (which Cris Casey would appreciate) that makes it easy to understand and useful for communicating.
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Joshua Russo Innovation Manager| Lifoam Industries Huntsville, Al, United States
Side note, another model that I recently discovered is an aphorism popularly known as "Hanlon's Razor".

A philosophical razor is a method of "shaving off" less-likely explanations, the most famous being "Occam's Razor", which I'll let you look up yourself if you don't already know it by that name.

Hanlon's Razor speaks eloquently to both logic and emotional intelligence, stating... "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".

Good words for paranoid PM's!
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1 reply by Cris Casey
Jan 27, 2017 2:57 PM
Cris Casey
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Joshua - You are my hero! I've been using that aphorism for 30+ years and have been erroneously attributing it to Robert Heinlein, which as the Wikipedia entry notes, may not have been that far off. Thanks!
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Cris Casey Managing Director| Exertus, Inc.
Jan 27, 2017 2:12 PM
Replying to Joshua Russo
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Side note, another model that I recently discovered is an aphorism popularly known as "Hanlon's Razor".

A philosophical razor is a method of "shaving off" less-likely explanations, the most famous being "Occam's Razor", which I'll let you look up yourself if you don't already know it by that name.

Hanlon's Razor speaks eloquently to both logic and emotional intelligence, stating... "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".

Good words for paranoid PM's!
Joshua - You are my hero! I've been using that aphorism for 30+ years and have been erroneously attributing it to Robert Heinlein, which as the Wikipedia entry notes, may not have been that far off. Thanks!
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1 reply by Joshua Russo
Jan 28, 2017 2:37 PM
Joshua Russo
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Ha, Chris! I've put this book on my amazon wish list to pick up at some point. I like Heinlein's version a lot as well, but now we've got a falsifiable/testable origin claim to Hanlon's identity in this book. Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0843106743/ref=c...a_QhpJybDQ2ZRVA
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Joshua Russo Innovation Manager| Lifoam Industries Huntsville, Al, United States
Jan 27, 2017 2:57 PM
Replying to Cris Casey
...
Joshua - You are my hero! I've been using that aphorism for 30+ years and have been erroneously attributing it to Robert Heinlein, which as the Wikipedia entry notes, may not have been that far off. Thanks!
Ha, Chris! I've put this book on my amazon wish list to pick up at some point. I like Heinlein's version a lot as well, but now we've got a falsifiable/testable origin claim to Hanlon's identity in this book. Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0843106743/ref=c...a_QhpJybDQ2ZRVA

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