Mental Models For Managing - Map vs. Territory

Welcome to a very special mini-series on The Inner Game of Change. I’m thrilled to take you on this journey as we explore something both timeless and practical: Mental Models for Managing Change.

In our last episode, we explored Leverage Points — how small, well-placed actions can shift entire systems. We talked about where change managers should be scanning for influence — not just solving problems, but shifting the conditions that create them.

Today, we pivot to a model that pairs beautifully with that: Map vs. Territory.

But first — if you’re just joining us, a quick reminder of what this mini-series is all about.
 A mental model is a way of seeing — a thinking framework that helps us interpret complexity, make better decisions, and lead change more thoughtfully.

And just like any map, the clearer our model, the more confidently we can move through uncertainty.

Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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Chapters

• 0:05 Welcome & Previous Episode Recap
• 0:31 Introduction to Map vs Territory
• 1:22 The 2008 Financial Crisis Example
• 3:15 Practical Application in Change Management
• 4:32 Tips for Map vs Territory Thinking
• 5:28 Reflection Challenge & Next Episode Preview

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hi everyone and welcome back to Mental Models for Managing Change. I am Ali Juma and I'm so glad you're tuning in. In our last episode we explored leverage points how small, well-placed actions can shift entire systems. Actions can shift entire systems. We talked about where challenge managers should be scanning for influence not just solving problems but shifting the conditions that create them. Today we pivot to a model that pairs beautifully with that map versus territory. But first, if you're just joining us, a quick reminder what this mini-series is all about.

Speaker 1: 0:45

A mental model is a way of seeing, a thinking framework that helps us interpret complexity, make better decisions and lead change more thoughtfully. And, just like any map, the clearer our model, the more confidently we can move through uncertainty. The model Map versus territory reminds us that the way we describe or represent the world is not the same as the world itself. Maps are simplifications. They are useful, but they are never complete. The territory that's reality, messy, changing, full of detail and nuance. This idea originally came from Polish-American scientist and philosopher Alfred Kosbiewski, who famously said the map is not the territory. Later psychologist Gregory Bateson and systems theorist picked it up, using it to warn us don't confuse your model of the world with the world itself In change work. This is essential Our frameworks, stakeholder maps, engagement plans. They help us navigate, but if we mistake them for the full reality, we risk leading with the blinders on A story the 2008 global financial crisis.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Here's a real world example that brings us this model of life the 2008 GFC. In the years leading up to it, financial institutions relied on complex models to assess risk. These models were like maps they predicted outcomes based on past behavior, but they didn't account for certain types of systemic risk. They didn't see the whole territory. Executives, analysts, even regulators, trusted these models, assuming that if the map looked safe, the terrain must be too. But reality the territory was shifting beneath them. Housing markets were over, leveraged, incentives were distorted and the human behaviorist driving decisions didn't match the assumptions baked into those models. The crash was, in part, a result of mistaking the map for the territory, and this happens in organizational change too. We use engagement plans, stakeholder grids, personas all useful, but people aren't dots in a matrix.

Speaker 1: 3:07

Real engagement happens when we step off the map and check what's actually happening on the ground, where this shows up in change. Let's ground this in the everyday reality of change work. You might have a RACI chart that looks neat on paper but roles are unclear in practice. Or your data dashboard shows high engagement, but corridor conversations tell a different story. Or your org chart says one thing, but informal leaders are the real culture carriers. This model encourages us to ask what are we assuming is true because it's written down? Where is lived experience diverging from what our frameworks say? Are we solving for the map or leading for the territory Way? To use this in the change cycle, this model is especially powerful during diagnosis and planning phases, when we are building change strategies or identifying impacts, engagement design, when we are relying on stakeholder maps or sentiment reports and post-implementation reviews, when it's time to check if the outcomes we planned for actually landed In each of these. Map versus territory reminds us to ground check, observe, listen and adjust how to practice map versus territory thinking.

Speaker 1: 4:32

Three quick tips to bring this model into your work. One do a reality check with your team. Pick a key framework maybe your stakeholder map or readiness dashboard and ask how well does this match what we are really seeing on the ground? Pick a key framework maybe your stakeholder map or readiness dashboard and ask how well does this match what we're really seeing on the ground? Two build in time for observation. Go beyond survey data, sit in on meetings, listen to corridor chats, ask open questions. Three encourage local storytelling. 3. Encourage local storytelling. Stories surface what spreadsheets miss. Make space for narrative, not just numbers. Your Reflection Challenge this week take one of your challenge artifacts a comms plan, a heat map or a stakeholder table and ask where is this helpful? Where might it be incomplete or out of date? And what might the territory be telling us that the map is missing? Sometimes the most powerful leadership move is not resharpening the map but walking into the terrain. Thanks for listening to.

Speaker 1: 5:37

Mental Models for Managing Change. If this episode gave you a nudge, I'd love you to share it with a colleague. Or drop me a thought on LinkedIn. And next time we're diving into a mental model built for fast-moving, high-stakes environments the OODA loop. It is about how we observe, orient, decide and act, especially when change is happening faster than we can process it. Until then, remember all models are wrong. Some are useful. Just don't forget to look up from the map. See you next time. © transcript, emily Beynon.