133 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Challenge Your Mental Models, September 28, 2004
Who says I am not capable of change?
When I first say this book I was turned off by what I perceived as its "positive thinking power" approach. I am glad I did not stop there. A careful reading revealed the book to contain a systematic process which helps define the importance of mental models, assess their relevance and steps for action.
The authors propose a four step process for assessing and changing your models.
1. Recognize the power and limits of mental models.
2. Test the relevance of your models against the changing environment, generate new models and develop an integrated portfolio.
3. Overcome change inhibitors by reshaping infrastructure and thinking.
4. Transform your world by quick action. Continuously experiment, assess and strengthen your models.
This fourth point, the authors say, is accomplished by "zooming in" and "zooming out." Zooming in is a process that involves focusing of a situation's details without being over whelmed by them. The process includes these approaches:
1. Engage in rigorous analysis. Pay attention to outliers and inconsistencies.
2. Categorize and Prioritize. Categorize by similarity, common fate and continuation.
3. Avoid Paralysis caused by too broad a focus.
Zooming out allows you to look at the big picture. It is accomplished by:
1. Recognizing the limits of your vision field.
2. Avoid Cognitive fixation.
3. Appreciate the context.
4. Create time for reflection.
5. Use many approaches.
6. Collaborate.
The models you adopt shape your approach to life. The dot-bomb bubble provides interesting lessons, the authors say.
1. Understand your models.
2. Know when to change. Do not get swept away with fads.
3. Recognize that paradigm shifts are a two-way street. Old models have value in an e-commerce world.
4. Develop a new way to see and perceive.
5. Mine nuggets of sense from streams of complexity.
6. Experiment.
7. Bridge disconnects.
8. Examine your infrastructure.
9. Trust your intuition - but have the courage to challenge it.
To change your world, you have to change your thinking. This book is a thoughtful, systematic approach expanding your personal and business opportunities.
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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
We are what we think, April 21, 2005
To paraphrase Descartes:
I think it is...therefore it is.
I think it's not...therefore it isn't.
Wind and Crook assert that a given opportunity is perceived to be either possible or impossible, depending upon one's mental model(s). In this brilliant book, they explain how to understand the power and limits of mental models; how to test the relevance of mental models against a changing environment, generate new models, and develop a "portfolio" of models; how to overcome inhibitors to change by reshaping infrastructure and the thinking of others; and finally, how to transform one's world by acting quickly upon the new models, continuously experimenting and applying a process by which to assess and then strengthen one's mental models. Long ago, Henry Ford observed: "Whether you think you can or think you can`t, you're right." I agree with Ford to an extent: Self-fulfilling prophecies are almost always based on a positive or negative attitude. Nonetheless, I am wrong if I think that I can defeat Tiger Woods in match play competition. Wind and Crook would insist, however, that with the proper mental model and lots of hard work, I could eventually become a much better golfer than I would otherwise be.
They organize the material in this book as follows:
Part 1: Recognize [and Understand] the Power and Limit of Mental Models
Part 2: Keeping Your Mental Models Relevant
Part 3: Transform Your World
Part 4: Act Quickly and Effectively
Conclusion: What You Think Is What You Do
In the Appendix (The Neuroscience Behind Mental Models), one of the core concepts is that "reality is a story the brain and the world work out together." This is a variation on Lilly Tomlin's suggestion that reality is a "collective hunch." Wind and Crook are describing an on-going process which has four primary phases, each of which is examined in in one of the four Parts. The process is on-going in that, once the power and the limit(s) of mental models are fully understood, it is still necessary to ensure that one's own mental models remain relevant during efforts "dismantle the old order" while finding common ground "to bridge adaptive disconnects."
At every appropriate opportunity, as Wind and Crook carefully explain, it is imperative to be able to respond quickly and effectively. In Chapter 10, they discuss intuition and explain how to develop and enhance its capabilities. (Pages 181-186) Their discussion of "creative leaps" reminds me of much of what Malcolm Gladwell has to say about intuition in Blink. If I understand all this (and I may not), Wind and Crook seem to agree with Gladwell that underdeveloped intuition is (at best) a "lucky hunch" whereas developed intuition enables us to utilize talent, training, and (most important of all) experience to make appropriate decisions when we suddenly find ourselves in a life-threatening situation and must react.
In Chapter 11, Wind and Cook explain how three celebrity CEOs demonstrate in their respective lives and careers "the power of impossible thinking." Howard Schultz formulated new concepts of coffee as a beverage and café as a social environment within which to consume it. Under his leadership, Starbucks continues with rigorous experimentation which challenges its business model (based on Schultz's mental models), constantly trying to "stretch beyond the possible." The Oprah Winfrey Show is a prime example of "impossible thinking" in that Winfrey formulated a new mental model: She would interact with her audience as personal friends. The dialog was deliberately self-revealing as she discussed her own challenges and experiences, especially those which were personally unpleasant, at times deeply hurtful. "She adopted a goal to `transform people's lives.' She changed the ways people thought about talk shows and about their own lives -- in effect, challenging their mental models." With regard to Andy Grove, former chairman and CEO of Intel, he led and managed a huge global enterprise by preparing it for what he characterized as strategic inflection points: each reveals "a mental map of the New World."
As Wind and Crook explain, all three recognized the influence of childhood, education, and early work in shaping their mental models; kept their models relevant; made things happen by transforming the world around them; and acted quickly and effectively.
I appreciate the Conclusion section in which Wind and Crook reiterate their key points. Here are three:
1. "When you face a new decision or new challenge, step back a moment and consider whether or not you have the right model for it."
2. "To carry your new view into the world, pay attention to the factors that keep you locked in the old model or enable you to bring others into the world."
3. "If you can cultivate the ability to think in new directions, you have the possibility to transform the business of your life and the life of your business. There are so many opportunities for transformation if you could only see them. To see these opportunities and to seize them, you need the courage and the understanding to think impossible thoughts -- and then act upon them."
In response to these three points, presumably Henry Ford would suggest, "Whether you think you can or think you can't gain the power of impossible thinking, you're right." Wind and Crook disagree. Although the Model T was indeed a product of Ford's "impossible thinking" in 1908, newer and better mental models have produced newer and better automobiles each year since. In all other industries, newer and better mental models continue to produce newer and better whatevers. My hope is that, after absorbing and digesting the material in this book, many readers will then begin some impossible thinking about the business of their lives and the life of their businesses. They are strongly encouraged to take full advantage of the CD-ROM which accompanies the book. It consists of an audio summary and an interview with the authors.
And perhaps more intellectually adventuresome readers will also do some impossible thinking about impossible thinking...then share it with Yoram (Jerry) Wind and Colin Crook.
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