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Critical Thinking

Mental Models Fundamentals

Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Intermediate content levelIntermediate

Learn better and faster using mental models

Mental models are the lenses through which we see, learn about, and understand the world. Every human has an array of mental models they already use without knowing it. Identifying and understanding these mental models can help sharpen those lenses. Thinking in terms of mental models is a handy way to comprehend and remember complex subjects. But many people are unaware of this technique or use it implicitly in one field without appreciating that they can generalize it to others.

Join critical thinking pro Connie Missimer to delve into mental model concepts and theory, discover how to use them, and examine a number of fundamental assumptions about notions such as simplicity and problem-solving. You’ll practice techniques, including the one developed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, and enjoy several opportunities for group discussion.

What you’ll learn and how you can apply it

By the end of this live online course, you’ll understand:

  • What a mental model is
  • Why it’s central to the growth of knowledge
  • How mental models aid learning

And you’ll be able to:

  • Recognize mental models across fields
  • Use mental models to learn across disciplines

This live event is for you because...

  • You’re a manager or contributor who wants to acquire the broad learning required to become a thought leader in your company.
  • You’re an executive or senior leader who wants to help your team surf the information tsunami that relates to your workplace.
  • You’re the head of a growing company who wants to learn efficiently so that you can recognize business opportunities and stay ahead of the competition.

Prerequisites

  • Answer and be prepared to discuss the following question: When you’re trying to learn something, how do you approach it? For example, do you try to recall every detail?

Recommended follow-up:

Schedule

The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.

Introduction (10 minutes)

  • Group discussion: Mental models and theories
  • Presentation: Comparing mental models

What is a mental model? (20 minutes)

  • Presentation and hands-on exercises: How the brain grasps complicated ideas; high mice and mental models; theories and hypotheses as mental models; babies’ hide and seek; mental models across disciplines and in everyday life

What did mental models ever do for me? (20 minutes)

  • Presentation and hands-on exercises: Understanding natural cognitive tools; creating new mental models; evaluating alternatives; mental models as ideal learning tools; the Feynman technique

Using the Feynman technique (20 minutes)

  • Presentation and hands-on exercises: In big things, strive for two or more mental models; alternative mental models; What’s a “big thing” for you?
  • Break

Pulling out mental models (40 minutes)

  • Presentation and hands-on exercises: Is our personality set or can we change it?; “less is more” versus adding to fix a problem

Wrap-up and Q&A (10 minutes)

Your Instructor

  • Connie Missimer

    Connie Missimer is a philosopher and expert in critical thinking. Her book Good Arguments: An Introduction to Critical Thinking, which offers the basics of analyzing theories and arguments, is now in its fourth edition. She’s been influential in the critical thinking community for articles on her empirically based theory and has conducted workshops both nationally and internationally. She worked at Microsoft and then at AT&T, where she advised Samsung, Microsoft, and Google on making their products more user-friendly, and she holds over a dozen patents. Connie is fascinated by empirical findings—especially the counterintuitive ones—relating to daily work and is the author of Critical Thinking at Work: Does Your Company Pound or Flex? She has enjoyed the privilege of giving workshops on the O’Reilly learning platform for the past four years.

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