Using Models Modelling and Models to Solve Problems, Improve Performance and Results and Achieve Goals in Organisations, Business and Economies

The world is a complex place. Many of the things that happen in the world are also complex. This includes in business, organisations, economics and the physical environment. Yet to have any impact, control or influence on these events, situations and entities we have to understand the essential parts and processes and how they operate. We must have a representation or an abstraction of the world to help us understand and influence the objects or phenomena. Models are very important and used widely in science and engineering with great effect. They are much less used in other organisations and economies and the opportunities and advantages from using them are lost. Business and organisational researchers and thinkers talk about and develop many models, but business and organisational operators rarely use these models effectively if at all. There are already many models up for grabs including the following genres;

1.???Business models

2.???Organisational models

3.???Management models

4.???Leadership models

5.???Strategic planning models

6.???Recruitment models

7.???Problem-solving models

8.???Goal achievement models

9.???Business starting models

10. Business growth models

11. Business turnaround models

12. Marketing models

13. Sales models

14. Training models

15. Entrepreneurship models

16. Ceo performance management models

17. Career success models

18. Economic turnaround models

A lot of these models are very powerful and can be game changers in company, organisational, economic and environmental management performance. Just by changing a model one can change performance or results in a dramatic way.

What is a Model?

For simplicity, I will provide the following definitions of a model;

"A model of an object?is a physical representation that shows what it looks like or how it works. The model is often smaller than the object it represents." Collins Dictionary.

"A model is?an informative representation of an object, person or system." Wikipedia

The key issue is that models represent reality and for this reason models;

1.???Help us to understand reality especially by simplifying things

2.???Help us to make sound decisions in relation to situations

3.???Help us understand how things work and hence they help us to successful influence the behaviour or performance of an entity or object.

Uses of Models

Models are used for many purposes including the following

·??????Models are used to manage performance and results

·??????Models are used in making decisions

·??????Models are used to help understand a problem or situation

·??????Models are used to solve problems

·??????Models are used to achieve goals

·??????Models are used to change situations

·??????Models are used to simplify things

Why Do Models Work

Let’s assume that you have model in your business. Suddenly your sales have been falling and your expenses are now more than your sales. This is now a problem in your hands that need a solution. There are many ways in which you can react to this.

1.??????You can bring together your sales team and demand more sales from them or

2.??????You can tell yourself “It is a passing phase and things will get back to normal”

Both of these reactions will not produce any good result. There is a better way of solving this problem which is using modelling for example using the following process;

1.??????Step One: Develop a good understanding of the overall sales and market situation.

2.??????Step Two: Develop a model solution(s) based on the results of Step One

3.??????Step Three: Implement the model solution and see if your sales increase again.

4.??????If there is no change repeat steps one and two until your sale results change

An alternative to the above approach is to look for existing sales results turnaround models. Most of these models have already been tested and have been proven to work already. This approach saves you a lot of time trying to solve the problem by trial and error, voodoo or guess work.

Let’s use another example of leadership performance. There are many existing leadership models in the world including those developed by the likes of Daniel Goleman, Gary Hamel, Stephen R Covey and others. I have met as much as twenty three different such leadership models.

Let us say you want to start leading or you want to improve your leadership performance, the fast way to do it is to pick a specific model or one or two models and use those to guide you. Using these models will produce results that are way better than any general education on leadership could produce for you.

You can use an existing model as is or you can adapt it to your specific situation.

Simply your management and leadership. Improve your problem solving power. Use models.

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?Simon Bere, 2023