Mental models help to explain why we think the way we do and how our beliefs influence our decisions. Mental models provide a framework for understanding the world and evaluating data, allowing leaders to make better decisions.
Combining different models is often an effective approach to examining the same problem from an alternate perspective, which might prove to be the key to creating a better solutions.
The quality of our thinking is largely determined by the models we possess in our minds and how relevant they are in a given situation. Possessing more tools or models increases the chances of us perceiving reality accurately. It is evident that having a wider variety of approaches is beneficial to making better decisions. Mental models are systems that help us to think.
In the real world resources (i.e. time, money, personnel etc.) are limited. Therefore you need a way to prioritise what solutions get implemented. An impact effort matrix is a decision making framework that is used to determine which solutions should be tackled first.
To figure out how to solve a problem, we must first understand what components we need to make up the solution and how can we apply and at what levels. To do this we will need to create a shared understanding of what makes up the solutions for each of the pain points identified by stakeholders in a process.
To figure out how to improve a process, we must first understand what issues/problems/pain points each stakeholder that is involved in the process faces. To do this we will need to create a shared understanding of what the issues are for each stakeholder involved in the process. An Empathy Mapp helps us build this shared understanding.
To successfully implement solutions, it is critical to understand what the most important problems are and what should be tackled first. To do this we will need to create a shared understanding of what the priorities should be via a Pain / Frequency Matrix
A desirability assessment is a strategic management tool used to find out exactly what is most needed by organisation to resolve specific issues and pain points.
Regulatory systems are made up 4 major functions. These are the control functions, monitoring functions, surveillance functions and the enforcement functions.
The OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is a strategic framework for decision making. It was a concept developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd, and was first presented in his briefing “Destruction and Creation”. We use it in our consultancy practice to assess whether an organisation has in place the appropriate frameworks (how they think about things) and methods (how they do things) to guide their decision making. It is used as a decision making troubleshooting tool.