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Isaac Rodriguez
ASU
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MENTAL MODELS AND ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORAL IMPLICATIONS
Assignment #2
Prompt # 1:
Have you ever known anyone with behaviors or traits that were very obvious to others, but
seemingly invisible to that person? Why do you think this was so? Might you have similar blind
spots about yourself, because they don’t match your self-perception? Describe the example
clearly and connect your reflection to the concepts from the readings.
About five years ago, I had a friend that was working through a difficult time in his life
and attended a self-help conference to find a solution for some of the recurring issues he was
facing. After attending the conference, he became very militant about making sure everyone in
his life adopting the solution he uncovered that he felt changed his life. Reflecting on my
interactions with him after his adoption of his new miracle working mental model, I can
recognize the false consensus bias he was making in that everyone should accept this curriculum
that he was applying. The mental model that he was holding firm to also created an unhealthy
approach to his methods of influence others and compliance gaining. He would push to gain
commitments from his friends and family to meet him at his self-help classes. He would use
manipulative tactics in regards to reciprocity when doing any favor for a friend in that they
should want to attend his class because he had done something nice for them. It was very
difficult for him to see he how closed off he was to someone not accepting his recommendations
since he had decided his view of the world was the most effective way to live
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The blind spot my friend had may have seemed very large to others, but it is not
dissimilar to blind spots everyone else might have due to cognitive biases we do not recognize.
In this specific case, I believe that the cathartic experience my friend had with his self-help
conference may have created a form of primacy effect resulted in an ongoing confirmation bias
where he had a “tendency to seek out and pay attention to information that supported [his]
preconceived notions, and also ignore or discount contradictory information.” (Hamilton, 2007, p
153) The positive experience was so strong for my friend that the ongoing bias was so strong that
he refused to question himself or listen to the concerns of others. A firm stance on a mental
model without any room for listening to criticism was a recipe for disaster in my friend’s
Prompt # 2: Quoted from Hutchens (page 66), please write up a response to either item (a) or
item (b) below. (a)Think of a time when you, or a group you were associated with, excelled by
In the company I currently work for, there had been a belief that we were the employer-
of-choice for our sales positions. Over the last twenty years, our company’s turn over data
seemed to confirm this mental model in that less than 5% of our sales people left the company on
their own. Since the industry standard was more than double the trend of our company, the
executive team held a long standing belief that we were the best company to work for.
Unfortunately, no one was talking about the data that did not support this mental model. Similar
to the example of the Coca-Cola organization, our organization’s benefit and compensation plan
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was the “6 ½ ounce bottle sacred to the brand identity… and wildly held to be the only way to
sell Coke.” (Hutchens, 1999, p 66) Although our organization had very little turn over, our
competition’s organic growth had doubled ours. After changing our compensation plans that
were in place for over twenty years and provided tools to increasing productivity for our sales
people, our organic growth doubled and more sales people joined our organization from the
competitor.
Prompt # 3: Quoted from Hutchens (page 66), please write up a response to either item (a) or
item (b) below. (a) Think of a time when someone presented his or her mental model as if it were
a fact. What kinds of responses did this elicit? Can you think of a time when you have done
this?
Political affiliations have been known to fall in line with a stereotypical mental model.
Identifying as a Republican or a Democrat carries some expectations about how someone will
vote on controversial issues such as universal healthcare, abortion or immigration. Leaders from
both of the political parties will present their opinion on these issues and passionately present
their arguments with an underlying them of being in the right and their opponent being wrong.
Hutchens provides a similar example of this mental model when he describes a warehouse
manager stating that “hourly employees aren’t very hard workers.” (Hutchens, 1999, p 67) To
that point, if someone votes contrary to the mental model of the political party, they may be
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When someone presents an argument that they are right and their main goal is to point
out how their political opponents are wrong, it seems apparent that counterfeit listening
outweighs any authentic listening. During a televised political debate, when a candidate is
attempting to persuade the viewers in regards to why their mental model is correct, their
opponent listening selectively to focus on the areas where they can attack the speaker during
their time to speak. If someone holds an opposing mental model, it’s also typical for them to
allow emotional noise to prevent them from listening to what the speaker has to say. I have had
similar reactions when hearing someone present a mental model that is in direct opposition to a
world view that is closely tied to my value system. I can have a strong emotional reaction that
“interferes with [my] ability to focus [my] full attention on the speaker.” (Hamilton, 2007, p 256)
Prompt # 4: Quoted from Hutchens (page 68), please write up a response to the following:
Consider the “different towers with different views” metaphor as it applies to your own life.
What “towers” do you inhabit? To get your mind flowing, it may help you to think in terms of
your beliefs about, for example, how organizations should be run, or beliefs about leadership
and motivation, political ideology, theology, parenting style, etc. Think through at least a few
beliefs you hold. How has your tower view affected your life? Have you changed a view? Also,
comment on how your beliefs have led to disagreements or impasses with others who inhabit
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At work, I have been assigned to an executive coach who was a former executive at Pepsi
Co many years ago. It’s become shockingly apparent that our approach to culture building and
leadership is firmly rooted in ‘different towers’. I have grown into appreciating an inspirational,
servant leadership approach to compliance gaining in an organization. The former executive has
an authoritarian, ‘GE/Jack Welch’, ‘do what I say or you are fired’ approach to how an
organization should be run. Recently, there was a situation where I applied my leadership style
during an issue and was scolded by the former executive for not firing the employee on the spot
for a first time offense which did not violate any company policy. The irony of these two towers
(in my opinion) is that this former Pepsi Co executive and I discussed the mental model Coca –
Cola held to which allowed Pepsi to gain market share. While I believe that sacred principles
should always be questioned and challenged, he believes in a set of rules to live by.
While we have some clear disagreements about the approach to running an organization,
I have asked him to set up recurring meetings where I am implementing an authentic listening
approach to his feedback. In the last meeting we had, I focused on paraphrasing and questioning
his feedback to communicate that I value his expertise. The questioning, that is presented in a
non-confrontational tone, has been effective. Instead of focusing on my tower and falling into
opinion of the speaker,” (Hamilton, 2007, p 258) I have started to learn valuable lessons from
this assigned mentor. My conclusion is that there are not just two towers, by listening
authentically, there are an infinite amount of perspectives that we should consider instead of
falling into a ‘you are wrong and my tower is right’ approach to mental models.
Prompt # 5: Quoted from Hutchens (page 70), please write up a response to the following:
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How can this self-reinforcing dynamic help in understanding, for example, racism?
Generational conflicts? “Problem children” in a family full of achievers? Companies that don’t
Since mental models are closely tied to values in that they “shape and influence the
norms, attitudes beliefs, expectations, perceptions and behaviors,” (Hamilton, 2007, p 6) people
begin to perceive the world in a modified view that continues to reinforce their mental model.
For example, when someone believes that African-Americans are violent or dangerous, they may
have a higher likelihood for attribution errors when they see a news report about violence. This
“tendency to seek out and pay attention to information that supports [their] pre-existing notions.”
Prompt # 6:
1) What are some mental models that your organization may hold about its role in the
world?
A mental model held by some leaders in our organization is that after provided training and
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follow up support, underperforming sales reps are lazy or are not capable of succeeding.
Furthermore, underperforming sales reps are a drain on the company’s resources and should be
fired.
2) How might you and your other organization members begin surfacing and testing some
The first bias that is reinforced by having a majority of our sales reps succeed is that the
company’s sales training and support model does not need improvement. Hutchens bullet points
a helpful list of test that we should consider when faced with a potential threat within an
organization. In this case, the threat of unnecessary turn-over of a sales rep could be tested by
admitting our “reasoning process could have gaps or errors that [we] do not see.” (Hutchens,
1999, p 66) What if different markets require a completely different approach that our current
sales training does not cover? Have we asked our customers why they were using our competitor
influencing the situation would prevent the cycle of attribution errors our organization may be
3) What are some of your organization’s biggest challenges? How might untested mental
In a fast paced culture where growth is the main focus of what is discussed, making quick
decisions has rooted in cognitive bias. When decisions are made quickly, our organization can
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run the risk of relying upon what was said to be a fact. The untested mental model that our sales
training program has no gaps is reinforced when an underperforming sales rep is replaced and a
new representative happens to succeed. A new rep succeeding where the former rep did not
allows people to place full blame on the person instead of the process. The mental model goes
4) Cite an example or two of times that your organization has set in motion a self-fulfilling
prophecy, in which the group’s belief in something actually made that something come true.
As mentioned in response to the third question, when an underperforming sales rep is replaced
by a new rep that begins to perform, many in the organization believe that our sales training
program has no gaps. The cognitive bias occurs when a lack of performance is thought to be a
skill or effort issue by the employee instead of the process and training that may have gaps due to
market factors.
5) Review the material on the Ladder of Inference (page 72 from the Neanderthal Debrief
document in the Readings content area of Week 3). Cite a recent conflict that took place in your
organization in which someone hastily climbed up the ladder and “jumped” to conclusions
about someone else. TRACE THE STEPS OF THE LADDER. That is, for this item, clearly
demonstrate that you’ve tied your situation to the steps of the ladder…demonstrate you read and
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Using the example of our company’s sales training program and the pattern of recommending
that underperforming sales reps should be fired, here are the steps of the ladder that Hutchens
mentions in his article, “Shadows of the Neanderthal,” that were climbed quickly:
Select data: The leadership reviews the sales rep performance and notices that 90% of the sales
Add meaning: since 90% of the sales reps are performing with the company sales program, the
10% should be performing as well if they had the skills or effort. The underperforming reps do
Drawing conclusions: We must fire the rep and hire a rep who will follow our program.
Adopting beliefs: If we do not fire the sales rep who is underperforming, this rep will put the
company’s financial health at risk. We must at quickly before it’s too late.
Get results: A new sales rep comes in and performs- this means that our sales program had no
gaps and the issue was the person. If the sales new sales rep does not perform, this must be a
6) Review the guidelines for making your thinking explicit (the bullet points on pages 75-77
from the Neanderthal Debrief document in the Readings content area of Week 3). With the
conflict you identified in item 5 (above) write down the kinds of questions and the kinds of
statements that would make your thinking about the conflict explicit.
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As in response to point to of this section, the explicit thought process that Hutchens spells out in
his Neanderthal Debrief article starts with admitting that there may be gaps in the mental model
that we have adopted within our organization. Different markets may require a different approach
that our current sales training does not cover. Customers may point out a completely different
reason as to why they were using our competitor instead of our company in an underperforming
market. Looking at possibilities that are influencing the situation would prevent the cycle of
attribution errors our organization may be falling victim to when explaining underperformance.
Prompt # 7: Briefly define each of the following concepts and make some connections / relate
1) Primacy Effect
When we exhibit the primacy effect, where we “pay more attention to initial information [we]
receive about a person or situation than [we] do for later information” (Hamilton, 2007, p 151)
the bias can lock us into a mini mental model of sorts. Instead of questioning the first
impressions that we automatically revert to, we tend to make mental shortcuts that couple with
other cognitive errors such as confirmation biases to confirm our beliefs about person or issue.
This is not dissimilar to the idea of the ladder that Hutchens explains in his article. We do not
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The false consensus bias, where we make an “assumption that others see things the same way we
do” (Hamilton, 2007, p 152) is essentially mirroring Hutchens’ lesson of the two towers where
the perspective from one tower “has its own unique view of the landscape” (Hutchens, 1999 67)
and is incomplete. When we fall victim to the consensus bias, we believe other people see the
world from the same tower and may be vulnerable to discounting the opinions of outgroups.
3) Confirmation Bias
The confirmation bias is almost synonymous to the seventh step in the ladder of inference where
“we get results, which creates more observable data” (Hutchens, 1999, p 72) for us to support
our conclusions. When we are not explicit in testing our own assumptions within the mental
model we have, we continue to “seek out the information that supports our preexisting notions”
(Hamilton, 2007 p 153) and the cycle of our biased blind spot continues.
Cognitive errors all prevent people from breaking out of their mental model since in that the
mental shortcuts that do not question the preexisting notions that we believe to be true.
Fundamental attribution errors fit into that cycle of chaos where instead of asking explicit
questions about why someone is behaving a certain way, we “assume that other people’s
behavior is due to something about their personality, while at the same time failing to consider
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possible situational influences.” (Hamilton, 2007, p 156) Hutchens reviews the explicit questions
we can use to break the cycle of chaos which is similar to the method of perception checking that
Hamilton covers to better understand why people behave a certain way. Instead of falling to
cognitive errors, we should be taking time to listen through authentic approaches such as
questioning and uncovering the several different towers that people hold true as the only tower in
the world.
References:
Hamilton, V. M. (2007). Human relations: The art and science of building effective relationships.
Hutchens, D (1999). Shadows of the Neanderthal: Illuminating the Beliefs that Limit our
Organizations
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