Modelling is used by everyone everyday to make decisions. Indeed Wikipedia defines these mental models as
“an explanation of someone's thought process for how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about their own acts and their consequences. Our mental models help shape our behaviour and define our approach to solving problems and carrying out tasks.”
These mental models are used by business people in making decisions everyday. They are very powerful in shortening the time needed to make a decision as without them, we would have to analyse each situation from scratch. These mental models are based on experience which in turn is grounded in history. When using a mental model in this way, our mental models affect the way we work with the information and to determine the final decision. The decision itself is changing, but the mental models remain the same. Once established a mental model is fixed, so the decisions can be taken quickly.
But mental models have their drawbacks also. They are not easily understood by others; interpretations of them differ. The assumptions on which they are based are usually difficult to examine, so ambiguities and contradictions within them can go undetected, unchallenged, and unresolved. Alpine Consulting can help you understand your mental models by developing business models that can challenge and give insights to our assumptions. We work in assisting businesses make better decisions in the following areas: