Exploring Mental Models: A Black Box Exercise

The ability to make careful observations of challenging problems and to use those observations to develop an accurate mental model is extremely helpful for managerial decision-making. This black box exercise explores these concepts using a digital representation of a box where participants can only observe inputs and outputs from the box. After making careful observations, individuals try putting together a model of a mechanism inside the box that could explain what they are seeing. Small teams then discuss these individual models and come up with a team model that they feel works best. These models are shared and discussed as a class, making it easy to emphasize the importance of careful observation and the way in which mental models impact decision-making. This activity can be used for a range of audiences and includes variations for asynchronous and synchronous online formats.