Exceipt fiom !"# %&'(" )&*+&,-&.# %&#-/0112. Copyiight 1994 by Petei N.

Senge, Ait Kleinei,

Chailotte Robeits, Richaiu B. Ross,anu Biyan }. Smith. Repiinteu with peimission.
1
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This exeicise is often useu to inquiie into the mental mouels that we holu about the woilu anu
what's happening aiounu us.
*
In his book "The Fifth Biscipline" (199u), Bi. Petei Senge wiites that
"managing mental mouels - suifacing, testing, anu impioving oui inteinal pictuies of how the
woilu woiks - piomises to be a majoi bieakthiough foi builuing leaining oiganizations." (page
174).

Exploiing mental mouels has its significance in the fact that they also ueteimine of how we take
action. Nental mouels aie always simplifications of ieality. They help us to cieate oui own ieality
in which we can function on a uaily basis. In a leaining oiganization mental mouels become
impoitant as they uefine the way of how we uo what we uo anu how we inteiact with one anothei.
0nueistanuing oui own anu othei people's mental mouels can theiefoie inciease oui
peifoimance anu consequently the success of the oiganization.

The challenges with mental mouels lie not in whethei they aie iight oi wiong, but iathei in the
fact that they aie often tacit - below the level of awaieness. 0ften they cannot be aiticulateu
cleaily anu shaieu with otheis. Bowevei, it is exactly this piocess, which is a pieiequisite foi
leaining anu peifoimance impiovement.

The Left Banu Column is an exeicise baseu on the woik of Chiis Aigyiis anu Bonalu Schoen. It was
fiist piesenteu in 1974, in theii book entitleu "Theoiy anu Piactice".


Exceipt fiom !"# %&'(" )&*+&,-&.# %&#-/0112. Copyiight 1994 by Petei N. Senge, Ait Kleinei,
Chailotte Robeits, Richaiu B. Ross,anu Biyan }. Smith. Repiinteu with peimission.
2
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Select a uifficult pioblem you've been involveu with uuiing the last month oi so, the kinu of tough,
inteipeisonal uifficulty that many of us tiy to ignoie.
You can't ieach agieement with youi close associates.
Someone else is not pulling his oi hei weight.
You believe you aie being tieateu unfaiily.
You believe youi point of view is being ignoieu oi uiscounteu.
The iest of the oiganization is iesisting -- oi you believe they iesist -- a change you want to
implement.
You believe youi team is not paying much attention to the most ciucial pioblem.
Wiite a biief paiagiaph uesciibing the situation. What aie vou tiying to accomplish. Who oi what
is blocking you. What might happen.

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Now iecall a fiustiating conveisation you hau ovei this situation -- oi imagine the conveisation
that you woulu have if you biought up the pioblem.
Take seveial pieces of papei anu uiaw a line uown the centei. (You can also entei this in a woiu
piocessoi with a two-column featuie. 0se siue-by-siue columns, oi "table" columns, iathei than
newspapei oi "snaking" columns.)
In the iight-hanu column, wiite out the uialogue that actually occuiieu. 0i wiite the uialogue
you'ie pietty suie woulu occui if you weie to iaise this issue. The uialogue may go on foi seveial
pages. Leave the left-hanu column blank until you'ie finisheu.


Exceipt fiom !"# %&'(" )&*+&,-&.# %&#-/0112. Copyiight 1994 by Petei N. Senge, Ait Kleinei,
Chailotte Robeits, Richaiu B. Ross,anu Biyan }. Smith. Repiinteu with peimission.
S
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Now in the left-hanu column, wiite out what you weie thinking anu feeling, but not saying.
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Beie is an example of the foimat. An R&B pioject managei (}im) assumes his supeivisoi (Touu)
feels haishly about him. In the iight-hanu column, }im wiites uown his last conveisation with
Touu. In the left, }im iecalls his own thoughts.

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We'ie two months late, anu I
uiun't think he knew. I was
hoping we coulu catch up.
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I neeu to make it cleai that I'm
willing to take iesponsibility foi
this, but I uon't want to volunteei
foi moie woik.
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Be nevei offeis this help in the
planning stages, when I coulu
ieally use it. It's too late now to
biing that up.
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The changes he keeps making aie
the ieal ieason we'ie late. Be
must have anothei one.
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It's a shame I can't tell him that
he's the cause of the uelays. If I
can holu him off two moie weeks,
I think we'll be ieauy.
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A1B 0#'1;# A1B +16# /1:.= >"?( &' :# *#( B,
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Exceipt fiom !"# %&'(" )&*+&,-&.# %&#-/0112. Copyiight 1994 by Petei N. Senge, Ait Kleinei,
Chailotte Robeits, Richaiu B. Ross,anu Biyan }. Smith. Repiinteu with peimission.
4
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You can leain a gieat ueal just fiom the act of wiiting out a case, putting it away foi a week, anu
then looking at it again. The case becomes an aitifact thiough which you can examine youi own
thinking, as if you weie looking at the thinking of someone else.
As you ieflect, ask youiself:
What has ieally leu me to think anu feel this way.
What was youi intention. What weie you tiying to accomplish.
Biu you achieve the iesults you intenueu.
Bow might youi comments have contiibuteu to the uifficulties.
Why uiun't you say what was in youi left-hanu column.
What assumptions aie you making about the othei peison oi people.
What weie the costs of opeiating this way. What weie the payoffs.
What pieventeu you fiom acting uiffeiently.
Bow can I use my left-hanu column as a iesouice to impiove oui communications.
Foi example, I (Rick) have uevelopeu a way of uesciibing my left- hanu column to otheis in a non-
accusatoiy, non-juugmental way. I'll use language like this: "Look, I feel like I'm between a iock
anu a haiu spot. The iock is oui conveisation, my iight-hanu column. You'ie saying you want to
move aheau with this pioject iapiuly. 0n the othei hanu, my own thoughts, my left-hanu column,
say that if we move aheau with it, we'ie likely to lose }oe's anu Bill's paiticipation. I'm leeiy of
iaising this with you because in the past, when I've askeu you to slow uown foi othei ieasons,
you've gotten upset with me."
In gioup meetings, when you feel angiy oi fiustiateu, the left-hanu column is paiticulaily
valuable. You can stop the action anu say, "I iealize we've got impoitant woik to uo, but once again
I uon't think we'ie focusing on the ieal issue. Can we check some of oui assumptions befoie we go
any fuithei. Let me tell you what I've got in my left-hanu column . . ."

Exceipt fiom !"# %&'(" )&*+&,-&.# %&#-/0112. Copyiight 1994 by Petei N. Senge, Ait Kleinei,
Chailotte Robeits, Richaiu B. Ross,anu Biyan }. Smith. Repiinteu with peimission.
S
In othei cases, leveiage lies with the conveisation itself. Begin by iewiiting the pievious
conveisation as you might have helu it. Bow coulu youi iight-hanu column (what you saiu) biing
some of youi impoitant left-hanu column thinking to the suiface. Bow coulu you have ievealeu
youi thoughts in a way that woulu contiibute to the situation tuining out the way you wanteu.
What coulu you have saiu that woulu effectively inquiie into the othei peison's left-hanu column.
Foi a ieality check, show the ieviseu case to a thiiu paity (such as a paitnei).
You can also show selecteu paits of it to the peison with whom you hau the oiiginal conveisation.
If hanuleu with a sense of inquiiy anu caie that might be a way to bieak thiough youi impasse: "I
have been making some assumptions about oui last conveisation, anu I wanteu to check them
with you." Sometimes you may finu you both iemembei the same conveisation completely
uiffeiently. Even when you agiee on what you have saiu, you may have been thoioughly unawaie
of each othei's unvoiceu conceins.
When you show youi case to the othei peison, uon't appioach it as a way to finally cleai the aii
anu get youi points out in the open. Noi is youi puipose to "piettify" youi left-hanu column by
ieuefining youi thoughts in a cosmetically kinuei, gentlei context. As Robeit Putnam notes, some
of youi left-hanu thoughts piobably shoulu stay hiuuen. 0ui inteinal censois often have a goou
chunk of wisuom; sometimes these comments woulu wieak havoc if voiceu. Youi puipose is to
iaise assumptions anu mutual misunueistanuings whose iesolution will most contiibute to moie
fiuitful futuie conveisations.

Thank you foi ieauing this aiticle. To finu moie about the Five Bisciplines of oiganizational
leaining, visit www.solonline.oig. If you aie inteiesteu in the S-uay woikshop with Petei Senge
anu othei facilitatois to uevelop youi leaueiship capacity anu ieflective minuset, join us at SoL's
Founuations foi Leaueiship Piogiam oi contact Lisa Kim, Piogiam Nanagei at
(piogiamssolonline.oig). We look foiwaiu to talking with you.