Think—or Sink

Today's leaders require the proper mental models for our “VUCA (volatile‐uncertain‐complex‐ambiguous)” world, in the estimation of Bolman and Deal. Although mental models are known by a variety of terms (such as paradigms and mind‐sets), here they are called frames. Bolman and Deal write that a “frame is an amalgam of beliefs and assumptions that you carry in your head to help you understand and negotiate some part of your world.” Four different frames are described: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. These frames provide different ways of looking at and perceiving situations, giving leaders multiple perspectives for the inherently messy and ambiguous situations they regularly encounter.