Mental Models and Perception - Essay Example

? Mental Models and Perception Mental Models and Perception Managers in industries, healthcare, and other organizations are responsible for using the financial, material, information, and human resources to deliver services. This requires a wide range of both interpersonal and technical skills. Most managers do not give their chance to express themselves, yet they carry out most of the duties (Lecture 1-3, 2012.). Learning can be defined as the acquisition or refinement of knowledge and skills to increase one’s capacity to engage in an effective action. Through learning, employees accumulate the necessary knowledge, by experience, mentoring, or participating in training sessions. Several organizations have coaching and mentoring schemes to facilitate employee learning and skill development. This involves having role models within the organization who serve as a reference point for employees. This is most common when nurturing leadership skills in young employees who learn certain skills from the current leaders. Individual organizational members undergo a learning process that contributes to the overall organizational learning. The human mind has proven to have cognitive limitations as well as an infinite capacity in terms of learning. Much of organizational learning depends on individual stimulus-response by continuous interactions with other members (Shavinina, 2003; Senge, 2006). Human beliefs are based on individual perceptions and assumptions and those about the world around us. The accuracy with which employees understand their employers and clients depends on how they perceive their subjects. Understanding how organizations should be led or managed contributes to the development process of employee bias. Employee interaction with managers, mentors, client, and fellow workers determine the type of perception formed in their mind. These features form the mental framework that drives assumptions, beliefs, and the ultimate actions. The quality of the relationship between employers and employees determines the quality of learning in the organization. Successful organizational learning and change depends on the ongoing participation and commitment of employees. This determines the level of interaction and how each member of the team perceives the other person. Team work in every organization facilitates learning and depends mostly on individual perception (Waldeck, 2006). Human beings rely on their senses to form mental models about the world surrounding them (Lecture 1-3, 2012; Parker, E. S. 2007). These models create the lens through which human beings view the world. This in turn determines individual attitude, behavior, results, and relationships with others. Mental models can occur in the form of attitudes, beliefs, opinions, perceptions, assumptions, and so forth. They can also occur in the form of generalizations such as certain types of people are untrustworthy or are caring than others. Mental maps of the way things are and how they are supposed to be form frames of reference. These references are consulted every time an individual meets a new person or acquires a new experience. Many individuals in an organization fail to reach their optimum potential due to negative mental models harbored in their minds. Ideas and innovations also fail to be translated meaningfully due to their conflict with the mental models existing in an organization (Morgan, 2002; Hoeft, R. M.2008). Individual reactions to people are determined by the mental models formed through perceptions. They determine the type of details recorded by the mind when an individual meets new people. This explains why some employers or employees love certain people in an organization and others despise the same people. The type of details recorded by an individual’s mind when they meet for the first time determines the relationship that will exist afterwards. Workers in an organization can have ingrained internal images about employers or fellow workers that make them fail to adjust even when they are irrelevant. These internal images greatly influence the manner that an individual perceives the business environment in which they work. These perceptions limit individuals to familiar ways of thinking and managing mental models is necessary for building learning organizations. Some of them exist in the subconscious mind and remain unexamined and unchanged (Held, Knauff and Vosgerau, 2006; Waldeck, 2006). The conscious part of the mind creates a perception of the world through the sensory input and forms a reality about the world. These perceptions are not always complete or accurate and contribute to limitations of the mind. These perceptions help the mind understand complex subjects by examining the how and why of the thinking process. Mental models boost the thought process, and help individuals make judgments when they meet people (Hoeft, R. M.2008). This reinforces their perception about other workers in an organization and leads to healthy relationships and team work. When individuals meet new people, they evaluate the current perception in reference to an existing association. This forms a comparison that forms the decision on the course of action. If the new person arouses a negative association, then the individual can hate that person at first sight. These experiences are stored in the subconscious mind and always used to form an association for every perception. Human perceptions are long lasting, and it is very difficult to change them especially in adults. Some observed organizational behaviors are brought about by held perceptions, some of which are false and unrealistic. This explains the cruelty that exists between work mates some of which cannot be justified, but it lasts for a long time. Employee actions that seem to contradict personal interests can lead to destruction of ideas and goals. This is most common with managers who feel threatened by rising employees, which is contributed to the current competition in the career world. The business environment requires creativity and innovation for an employee to survive in an organization. This creates an illusion of competition for survival and managers fail to recognize and implement new insights originating from subordinates. This in turn creates a bad relationship between the involved parties and hinders the process of knowledge transfer. Preconceived ideas and concepts cause the mind to develop blind spots regarding certain truths about the world. This makes individuals pay more attention and consideration to things they perceive to be valuable. Blind spots make individuals look for certain characteristics or aspects form individuals, which forms their perception about a person they meet for the first time. If the person has valuable characteristics, then the two people can bond and interact positively. However, when negative characteristics are perceived, the blind spots lock out the brain and the two people are unable to relate well. The brain may lock out positive traits from an individual, which are perceived by another person who has different blind spots. Preconceived ideas can be changed by consciously changing thoughts and beliefs to accept the universal truth locked out by the blind spot. This causes individual change about previous perceptions about others and encourages team work in the organization (Elschbach, Barr and Hargadon, 2005). Organizational blind spots exist when all employees believe or fail to believe on something. Employees in an organization or in a team may fail to accept an idea from a colleague or unanimously accept an idea that affects personal belief. This occurs when employees have a common blind spot and may create general assumptions regarding a certain employee or a group of employees. These blind spots stifle creativity and limit personal achievements in the workplace. Employees who agree to a certain idea help an individual realize full personal potential and encourage innovation. Knowledge sharing is common among employees who share a common interest. They have a platform that allows them to share experiences and engage in exchanging ideas. People without a common interest spend a little time together, and knowledge exchange rarely happens. This can be attributed to the initial perceptions formed by individuals after meeting for the first time (Parker, E. S. 2007). Mental models place personal limitations on an individual’s potential. They also help individuals concentrate on environmental stimuli that have an attached value. This makes the brain concentrate on important traits that fit a certain criteria. In an organization, these models enable employees detect threats and traits that have personal profitability. Perceived threats help employees improve their creativity to maintain their competitive edge. This may lead to the development of innovations that are profitable to the organization. The filtering process is important for opening up individual awareness in response to a particular perception. Employees attain their goals by first becoming aware of their ambitions and filtering out the necessary information and knowledge. This helps them increase their awareness of valuable opportunities and information. Organizational development relies heavily on individual perceptions that are governed by existing mental models. Individual learning in an organization contributes to the realization of personal achievements and the success of the whole organization (Easterby-Smith and Lyles, 2007; Parker, E. S. 2007). Mental models are formed by previous experiences or social conditioning with families, school, friends, associates and so forth. They form a reference point for every new perception and determine how an individual relates with other. These models form a personal view of the world, which is difficult to change especially in adults. Relationships between individuals rely on the first perception when strangers first meet. The mind explores previous perceptions and compares them with the current perception. When an individual perceives valuable characteristics in a stranger or worker, he or she is attracted to that stranger. The perception of invaluable traits leads to an unhealthy relationship between the two individuals. These relationships are necessary for knowledge transfer in an organization, which facilitates learning. Employee behavior also depends on individual perceptions about other employees. These behaviors determine the relationship between employees and employers and determine how individuals reach their personal potential. References Easterby-Smith, M., & Lyles, M. A. 2007. Handbook of organizational learning and knowledge management. [Malden, Mass.], Blackwell Pub. Elschbach, K.D., Barr, P.S., and Hargadon, A. B. 2005. Identifying situated cognition in organizations. Organizational science, 16 (4), 422-433. Held, C., Knauff, M., and Vosgerau, G. 2006. Mental models and the mind current developments in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind. Amsterdam, Elsevier. Hoeft, R. M.2008. Investigating the Mechanisms that Drive Implicit Coordination in Teams. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Lecture 1-3. 2012. Organisational Learning and Development Spring. Morgan, G. 2002. Risk communication: a mental models approach. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Parker, E. S. 2007. Organizational Learning, Innovation, and Employees' Mental Models of Change following a disaster: A case study of the Morgan library at Colorado State University. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Senge, P. 2006, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday. Shavinina, L. V. 2003. The international handbook on innovation. Oxford, Pergamon. Waldeck, T. Z. 2006. The effect of team composition on strategic sensemaking. Wiesbaden, Dt. Univ.-Verl. Read More