How objective are you? How often are you over-reacting to situations, taking things personally or judging people unfairly? We all do this at some time or another.
. Under stress, most of us draw solely on our past experiences and biases, which cloud our ability to see things clearly and make sound judgments. Moreover, our desire to succeed is often so strong, that, under these intense circumstances, our limiting mental models tend to get in our way, creating even more stress and causing us to react in ways that we may regret.
Our ability to be objective depends on our willingness to question our mental models, the lens through which we perceive, interpret and respond to our world. If our mental models are incorrect, then our understanding of what is going on and our response to it, are often incorrect. .
The good news is that with practice, we can interrupt our automatic reactions, and choose a different response. Each time we do this, we are re-wiring our neural network by creating new pathways based on new models: new ways of perceiving and responding to our world. .
One of the most powerful mental model transformation catalysts (催化剂) is new knowledge or logic that challenge old ways of thinking. They've usually been with us a while, so we tend to trust them. For most of us, we have never been taught about mental models and how to evaluate them to determine if they are helpful or harmful.
To transform unproductive mental models, we must change our mind! We have to decide, through our own logic and reason, whether our way of seeing the world is no longer valid for us. It is in the wake of this new knowledge that transformation takes place. At that moment, a set of new connections is created in the brain. It's these new connections that have the potential to enhance our mental resources to help us transform limiting mental models.
A. We can actually learn to think smarter!
B. An objective leader must judge and treat people fairly.
C. This requires that we be open to new knowledge and reasoning.
D. The key is to accept a problem as it occurs and not take it personally.
E. This is why we sometimes misjudge situations and take things personally.
F. As we have seen, mental models are deep — rooted beliefs we tend to hold onto.
G. The challenge is that when we are under pressure, we tend to be less objective.
