Psychologists and organizational theorists call these heuristics for how the world works “mental models.” Mental models can be very helpful—they can provide shortcuts and keep us from reinventing the wheel. As The Onion put it tastefully, “Stereotypes are a real timesaver.” Problems arise when these models no longer reflect reality and when they inhibit creative thinking. We have to recognize that a mental model is not reality, it is just a representation of reality, and there are a near-infinite number of equally valid representations, almost all of which also leave something out in the
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