Baseball and Mental Models

Last night I finally saw the movie "Money Ball." Briefly the movie is about a baseball manager who learns to think about baseball differently than just getting superstars on the field, and his new ideas, though successful, are  tossed aside by many people. But it is about more than just baseball, it is about greatness. At one point the general manager, Billy Beane, says to his managers "innovate or die." Well, it's not quite as drastic as that, but many times in order to succeed, we have to change and it is not easy.

Many of us attain a level of success in our endeavors by doing what has always been done in our field, whether its art, science, athletics, literature, etc. However we can become stuck in our way of doing things by falling into the trap of believing there is no other way to achieve success. We become wedded to our "mental models." Mental models is a concept promoted by Kenneth Craik in the 1940's which held that we create our own mental models of how the world works, how we interact with others, how we do business etc., through our experiences. These models contain our belief of how things should proceed in our world. However mental models can become outdated. The famous quote that "everything that can be invented, has been invented" was stated just before the industrial revolution. Wow, talk about a wrong mental model.

The importance of mental models is primarily recognizing our own and occasionally challenging them. Breaking through to a new level rarely occurs by doing the same thing. In order for the breakthrough to occur, you have to do something different, or examine your worldview  and choose to see things differently. That takes discipline and courage.

In Money Ball, Billy Beane learns to view the world of major league baseball in a totally different way. He encounters a lot of opposition, because he is also challenging the mental model of others, but succeeds in changing the way the business is perceived. What mental model do you need to challenge?