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.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi everyone and welcome back to Mental Models
for Managing Change.
I am Ali Juma and I'm so gladyou're tuning in.
In our last episode we exploredleverage points how small,
well-placed actions can shiftentire systems.
Actions can shift entiresystems.

(00:27):
We talked about where challengemanagers should be scanning for
influence not just solvingproblems but shifting the
conditions that create them.
Today we pivot to a model thatpairs beautifully with that map
versus territory.
But first, if you're justjoining us, a quick reminder
what this mini-series is allabout.
A mental model is a way ofseeing, a thinking framework

(00:48):
that helps us interpretcomplexity, make better
decisions and lead change morethoughtfully.
And, just like any map, theclearer our model, the more
confidently we can move throughuncertainty.
The model Map versus territoryreminds us that the way we

(01:09):
describe or represent the worldis not the same as the world
itself.
Maps are simplifications.
They are useful, but they arenever complete.
The territory that's reality,messy, changing, full of detail
and nuance.
This idea originally came fromPolish-American scientist and
philosopher Alfred Kosbiewski,who famously said the map is not

(01:31):
the territory.
Later psychologist GregoryBateson and systems theorist
picked it up, using it to warnus don't confuse your model of
the world with the world itselfIn change work.
This is essential Ourframeworks, stakeholder maps,
engagement plans.
They help us navigate, but ifwe mistake them for the full

(01:53):
reality, we risk leading withthe blinders on A story the 2008
global financial crisis.
Here's a real world example thatbrings us this model of life
the 2008 GFC.
In the years leading up to it,financial institutions relied on

(02:13):
complex models to assess risk.
These models were like mapsthey predicted outcomes based on
past behavior, but they didn'taccount for certain types of
systemic risk.
They didn't see the wholeterritory.
Executives, analysts, evenregulators, trusted these models
, assuming that if the maplooked safe, the terrain must be

(02:35):
too.
But reality the territory wasshifting beneath them.
Housing markets were over,leveraged, incentives were
distorted and the humanbehaviorist driving decisions
didn't match the assumptionsbaked into those models.
The crash was, in part, aresult of mistaking the map for
the territory, and this happensin organizational change too.

(02:58):
We use engagement plans,stakeholder grids, personas all
useful, but people aren't dotsin a matrix.
Real engagement happens when westep off the map and check
what's actually happening on theground, where this shows up in
change.
Let's ground this in theeveryday reality of change work.

(03:19):
You might have a RACI chartthat looks neat on paper but
roles are unclear in practice.
Or your data dashboard showshigh engagement, but corridor
conversations tell a differentstory.
Or your org chart says onething, but informal leaders are
the real culture carriers.
This model encourages us to askwhat are we assuming is true

(03:44):
because it's written down?
Where is lived experiencediverging from what our
frameworks say?
Are we solving for the map orleading for the territory Way?
To use this in the change cycle, this model is especially
powerful during diagnosis andplanning phases, when we are
building change strategies oridentifying impacts, engagement

(04:07):
design, when we are relying onstakeholder maps or sentiment
reports and post-implementationreviews, when it's time to check
if the outcomes we planned foractually landed In each of these
.
Map versus territory reminds usto ground check, observe,
listen and adjust how topractice map versus territory

(04:31):
thinking.
Three quick tips to bring thismodel into your work.
One do a reality check withyour team.
Pick a key framework maybe yourstakeholder map or readiness
dashboard and ask how well doesthis match what we are really
seeing on the ground?
Pick a key framework maybe yourstakeholder map or readiness
dashboard and ask how well doesthis match what we're really

(04:51):
seeing on the ground?
Two build in time forobservation.
Go beyond survey data, sit inon meetings, listen to corridor
chats, ask open questions.
Three encourage localstorytelling.
3.
Encourage local storytelling.
Stories surface whatspreadsheets miss.
Make space for narrative, notjust numbers.
Your Reflection Challenge thisweek take one of your challenge

(05:15):
artifacts a comms plan, a heatmap or a stakeholder table and
ask where is this helpful?
Where might it be incomplete orout of date?
And what might the territory betelling us that the map is
missing?
Sometimes the most powerfulleadership move is not
resharpening the map but walkinginto the terrain.
Thanks for listening to.

(05:37):
Mental Models for ManagingChange.
If this episode gave you anudge, I'd love you to share it
with a colleague.
Or drop me a thought onLinkedIn.
And next time we're diving intoa mental model built for
fast-moving, high-stakesenvironments the OODA loop.
It is about how we observe,orient, decide and act,

(05:59):
especially when change ishappening faster than we can
process it.
Until then, remember all modelsare wrong.
Some are useful.
Just don't forget to look upfrom the map.
See you next time.
© transcript, emily Beynon.