Institutions
How can your mental models about your world both assist and limit your perceptions when you meet a person for the first time?
Mental models are assumptions about the world and they influence our way of thinking. Mental models filters information so that the problem solving process succeeds; a process known as selective perception. The assumptions and generalization in our world will either assist or limit an individual perception when meeting a new person. The past experiences and the present knowledge builds up the mental models thus determining how we react to events and the actions we take.
Human beings perceive the world in line with their unique cultures, beliefs, opinions, emotions and values. The main challenge arises when there is need for people to change their cultural view and learn to appreciate all people regardless of their race, color, gender and ethnicity. The present knowledge and the past experiences of an individual will always shape the way he will act towards a certain event (Burke 2012).
Mental models creates learning organizations that will encourage and promote innovation and creativity, participation, giving all organizational members a voice, utilizing the existing information of all individuals and creates the ability to be flexible to environmental changes. This makes the mental models to either assist or limit our perceptions towards the world. Information that an individual has develops into actions in events.
The human mind is a very important aspect in mental models because it stores the experiences that we encounter in our daily lives. This shapes the way we will judge people and life events that will develop as long as we exist. Human beings actions are put into life after the perceptions that they holds are internalized by the human mind. (Summers & Smith, 2010).
Peter Senge’s theory clearly explains how mental models are based on assumptions, making generalizations and drawing an understanding of the world and this influences the actions that we make in life (Senge, 2006). His theory is based in accordance to the ladder of inference. It’s arranged in the following order: actions, beliefs, conclusions, assumptions, interpreted reality, selected reality and finally reality and facts. The ladder of inference shapes the way of thinking and develops the actions that will be taken towards this new person.
When you meet an individual for the first time, your perceptions determines the way you will interact with him. In such an instance, the mental models play a central role towards the action that will be taken. The first sight determines a lot on the judgment that one may hold over time. Appearance makes our mind to trigger moves that are shaped by the perceptions developed due to the experiences in our daily encounter in life (Glassop & Waddell 2005). The way the new person walks, talks, appears are all major factors towards our judgment. All these factors may either develop a positive or negative perception according to the experiences of an individual.
There is also a possibility to judge the new person in a wrong way since most perceptions are negative. The daily life experiences and cultural beliefs modify and change the mental models of a person. The experiences in our lives may disapprove what the world ought to be and many individuals may get it wrong. This is because the mental models develop an inner character that decides on what we perceive despite of the reality that exists. In the scenario of meeting a new person, an individual can be convinced that the new person cannot be trusted. This can be very parallel to what is true on the real world. The mode of dressing also determines how one reacts to this new person and the way he will judge him (Nonaka &Takeuchi 1995).
Mental models make assumptions that there are human motivations that develops how people acts. The mental models overlap and triggers different reactions where the strongest is turned into action. The new person can also appear in a way that the mind will react to his presence as a threat. Such a person will make us to feel very uncomfortable and we will limit the type of information that we may share with the new person.
Human beings are required to celebrate how their attitudes and cultures help them understand the reality of world positively. The new people in our life must also remain focused in the first encounter so that they may not paint a negative picture in our minds. Mental models are made up of fundamental beliefs that create variables which determine how we handle new events in our daily lives. A person has a chance to identify the most important variables that are supported by the mental models in judgment making. It can be said that people mental models are simply their way of thinking (Flood, 1999).
In a nutshell, the reactions that develops after meeting a new person may vary depending on that individuals experiences. The cultural beliefs and opinions are also a major factor that develops the mental model. Therefore, mental models are our way of thinking and they determine actions that we take in our lives.
Bibliography
Senge, P 2006. The fifth discipline: the art and practice of learning organization, revised edn, Double day/Currency, New York.
Flood, RL 1999, Rethinking the fifth discipline: learning within the unknowable, Routledge, London, UK.
Glassop, L. & Waddell, D. 2005, Managing the family business, Heidelberg Press, Heidelberg, Vic.
Nonaka, I &Takeuchi, H 1995, The knowledge-creating company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
Boud, D & Walker, D 1991, Experience and learning: reflection at work, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic.
Brookfield, S 1987, Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, UK.
Burke, P 2012, A social history of knowledge. II, From the Encyclopédie to Wikipedia, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.
Carr, W & Kemmis, S 1986, Becoming critical: education, knowledge and action research, rev edn, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Vic.
Dimitrov, V, Kuhn, L, & Woog, R 2002, Complexity thinking: a catalyst for creativity, school of social ecology and lifelong learning, University of Western Sydney, Penrith South, NSW.
Easterby-Smith, M, Araujo, L & Burgoyne, J (eds) 1999, Organizational learning and the learning organization, SAGE, London, UK.
Fitzgerald, A. & Teal, G. 2002.Organizational learning & development, McGraw-Hill, Roseville, NSW.
Summers, J & Smith, B 2010, Communication skills handbook, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.
Weick, KE 1995, Sensemaking in organizations, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Wenger, E 1998, Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
