The Leader's Journey Podcast Mental Models and the Work of Deep Change
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Nov 16, 2025 Ken Eriks and Chelsey Harmon from Churches Learning Change bring insights on the transformative power of mental models in congregations. They discuss how these unseen frameworks shape behaviors and beliefs within church communities. Through engaging stories, they outline strategies for surfacing and reforming mental models to foster creative and adaptive change. The conversation emphasizes the importance of patience, reflection, and experimentation in this vital process, ultimately guiding congregations toward a clearer path in their mission.
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Mental Models Shape Action
- Mental models are deeply held beliefs that shape how we see the world and act in it.
- Ken Eriks illustrates that without interrupting them we often keep doing the same thing automatically.
Stop Sign Example
- Ken describes a new stop sign designed to interrupt drivers' existing model of that road.
- The added signs helped drivers change behavior because their prior mental model would have kept them driving through.
Mental Models Are Neutral Tools
- Different people bring different mental models and those models are neither good nor bad, just different.
- Chelsey Harmon notes mental models save energy but can become unconscious constraints.