Introduction To Thinking In Models:
Getting The Big Picture
Using models to communicate plans, exchange ideas, and explore options and make decisions is a powerful skill that will serve you well in your career. Dealing with problems taught me three life skills. These led to higher wages, better strategic insights, and the ear of choice executives:
1. Understand the whole problem, which led me to Model Thinking.
2. Learn from your mistakes, which led me to Loop-Learning.
3. Dancing with Chaos, which led me to understand the levels of complexity.
This is a quick but useful introduction to the concepts of Model Thinking. You will leave with a "mental model" of how to learn more about these topics and how to apply them in your career.
About The Book
The easy answer, "I observed a problem, analyzed the people and things involved, conceptualized a model, communicated it to the team, the team adapted it to the situation and we worked as a team to resole the problem." This is an example of Loop Learning using Model Thinking. A skill that is easy to learn. This book will give you the insight you need to start Thinking in Models. And from there, to build experience in the soft skills that employers want and need.
The book will introduce a simple understanding of Mental Models. Then, Loop Learning will help you apply mental models in your daily activities. When you outgrow mental models, use the powerful technique of Systems Thinking. Finally, when the problem is too complex for modeling, Complexity Theory can manage your VUCA world.
How Will You Benefit From This Book?
Soft skills are a valuable benefit from Thinking in Models. Hence the presentation will help anyone preparing for a job search.
Recent graduates, struggling to make sense of what they learned, can learn how to merge information into useful model. Thereby building a model career. People transitioning into a new industry or profession can use model thinking to ramp up their understanding of the business.
