Mental Model Exercises

Exercise 1: EVERYTHING BUT SLEEP

Step 1: On an overhead or flip chart, show the following ten words: SLUMBER DREAM BED QUIET NAP Step 2: PILLOW NIGHT BLANKET PAJAMAS SNOOZE

All these words are associated with sleep. As the facilitator dont mention this fact. Instruct participants to look at the list, but not to write anything down. After ten seconds, turn the overhead off and ask the participants to write down as many words as they can remember, without talking. Ask people to raise their hands if they wrote down the word bed. Then ask who wrote down the word blanket. Then, who wrote down the word sleep? Note how many said they saw sleep. After those people lower their hands, show the words again. Participants will quickly realize that sleep is not on the list.

Step 3:

DEBRIEF: Ask participants What happened? The point here is a simple one: How do we, in real time, become aware of the associations we are making, and check for their appropriateness? How do we develop the observer in ourselves so we more often have our thoughts as opposed to being had by them?

Exercise 2: COLOR, FURNITURE, FLOWER

Step 1: Write the first word that comes to mind when you hear the following words: COLOR FURNITURE FLOWER

Step 2:

How many said red for color? How many said blue? For furniture: How many said chair? couch? For flower: How many said rose? daisy?

Step 3:

[majority of the group will say red, chair and rose as first or second choices] WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? (ask the group)

DEBRIEF: In the West particularly, we pride ourselves on our uniqueness, creativity and individualism, yet socialization is stronger than we realize. There is a physiological reason for this that has to do with neurological pathways in our brains. They can be called ruts and grooves, but a biologist would call them neural networks. The more we think in a particular way, the deeper the rut we create. When we unconsciously continue in the same thought patterns, these grooves deepen as we reinforce those patterns. The cycle is a vicious one. The more the grooves deepen, the more things look to us as if they fit our groove. Considering that there can be an underlying, natural biological explanation that can enhance or hinder our thinking is a very powerful step toward understanding and challenging our habitual patterns of thought. This exercise helps us to see that those who did not give the typical responses may be the most potent in helping us to look outside our own mental models. Therefore, the secondary point here is that when it comes to surfacing, testing and exploring our mental models of how the world works, we can be each others greatest assets. Perhaps, we may want to look for those who disconfirm our current mental models as they may be our greatest source of insight and learning. So, several key questions: Can we catch ourselves going on automatic pilot? How can we encourage diverse perspectives in order to surface, test and explore our own mental models?

Exercise 3: TOOTHPICK TEASER

Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Solution: DEBRIEF: Participants are, in a way, set up because they are asked to place the toothpicks flat on the table in front of them. The solution requires them to think in 3-D. Part of the obstacle becomes the way the challenge is presented. Some potential questions to ask: How did I set you up when I instructed you to put the tooth picks flat on the table? If you had a partner, in what way did he or she encourage or discourage out of the box thinking? Place a box of toothpicks within reach of each person. Participants can work individually or in partnership. Ask participants to each take 6 toothpicks and place them flat on the table. Using all 6 toothpicks, ask them to create four isosceles (equal sided) triangles. Lay three toothpicks flat on the table to form one triangle. Use the remaining three toothpicks to create three new triangles by building a teepee-like structure.

Exercise 4: ARMS CROSSED

Step 1: Ask the group to do the following: Fold your arms the way you would naturally, with one arm falling on top of the other. Look at your arms and notice which one is on top. Notice how this feels. Is it comfortable? Does it feel normal? Now ask the group to uncross their arms and fold them again, the other way with the other arm on top. How does that feel? What do you notice?

Step 2: DEBRIEF:

Link the physical analogy of feeling uncomfortable when we cross our arms in a non-habitual manner to the cognitive and emotional experiences we have when we are learning something new. Potential questions to consider: How does our habit of staying in our comfort zone inhibit new learning? How can we make more conscious choices to stretch into new territory?
The exercises above were adapted from The Systems Thinking Playbooks by Linda Booth Copies maybe be obtained from The Turning Point Foundation at 508.650.0138

Exercise 5: RULE OF SIX

Step 1: For each apparent phenomenon, devise at least six plausible explanations. There are probably sixty, but if you devise six, this will sensitize you to how many there may yet be and prevent you from focusing in on the first thing that sounds right as The Truth. Assign a probability factor to each explanation. These probabilities will be based on your own experience. This is all you have to go on. Someone elses probability factor will be different, because their experience is different. The probability factor can never be 100% and never be 0%. Whenever a decision is necessary, you can instantly and clearly select among those top probabilities of 95% or better.

Step 2:

DEBRIEF: When an event happens, we are often quick to make assumptions about its meaning. Often we attribute motives to anothers actions. We also tend to believe that the actions of another are related to us directly even when this is not the case. The Rule of Six is a discipline that opens up more possibilities for why things are happening or actions are being taken. In the words of Paula Underwood, Jumping to conclusions leads to contusions! Potential questions to consider: How does jumping to conclusions impact relationships with others? If we learned to be more disciplined in identifying our unfounded assumptions, how might relationships be different?
Adapted from Paul Underwood: Three Strands in the Braid: A Guide for Enablers of Learning Copies may be obtained from www.tribeoftwopress.com