This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Making Collaboration Work.
Imagine being trapped high on a mountain during a blizzard or being adrift at sea in a life boat for weeks on end. Is there any way to increase your odds of surviving? In fact, research into why some individuals and groups survive these types of disasters while others don't indicates that the ability to adjust one's "mental model" to reflect the new realities of an extreme situation is a critical survival skill.
In Deep Survival, author Laurence Gonzales writes: "Everyone who dies out there dies of confusion." That deadly confusion begins with a flawed mental model that fails to reflect reality but still serves as the basis for taking action. Like people in survival situations, the ability to develop an accurate mental model often separates successful companies from organizations that do not survive. Read complete Harvard Business Review blog.
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