Many factors contribute to the formation of our mental models, including experience and personality. This process of “rapid cognition” is rooted in what scholars in the fields of organizational learning and psychology refer to as “mental models” the attitudes and perceptions that influence our thoughts and, in turn, actions. Gladwell’s hot new book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Little, Brown, 2005), investigate show the human mind makes snap decisions-sometimes with beneficial and sometimes with detrimental results. Examples of what Gladwell refers to as “social epidemics” include the sky rocketing rise in cell phone usage and the precipitous fall in violent crime in New York City during the mid-1990s. Those steeped in the principles of systems thinking know of these dynamics as reinforcing loops processes that quietly build on themselves over time until they “tip over” into dramatic exponential growth. In his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Little, Brown, 2000), Gladwell focused on the forces that set off dramatic changes in fortune-either for better or for worse. Without once mentioning the concepts of feedback loops, delays, or behavior over time, best selling author and frequent contributor to the New Yorker magazine Malcolm Gladwell may be the most influential advocate of systems thinking and organizational learning currently in the public eye.
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