People-focused knowledge management

The Mental Reference Models in Situation-Handling
As indicated, people possess most situation-handling knowledge in
the form of mental reference models. In addition, they possess and
use knowledge in many other forms such as facts, concepts, and
expectations. Organizations have similar reference models but in the
form of structural IC assets. From the perspective of situation-
handling, we divide reference models into four types:
Situation Recognition Models are used for Sensemaking and
provide characterizations of memorized events. These models
are recalled through processes such as priming when situations
comparable to previous experiences are perceived. People
possess large libraries with tens of thousands of Situation Recog-
nition models that incorporate encoded information of situa-
tions they have encountered or learned about.
A major problem with Situation Recognition models is that
they, for the most part, represent past experiences or expected
circumstances. If the person is not alert to new challenges, new,
unexpected, and important situations may go unrecognized.
Such situations may not be noticed unless more abstract 
knowledge is available to recognize general patterns. To pro-
vide better understanding, organizations may use work-specific 
simulations and games, scenario planning, and other methods
to develop Situation Recognition models for less frequent and
novel conditions.
Decision-Making/Problem-Solving Models. This mental library
of reference models covers a large domain of alternatives for
how to handle a variety of conditions and guides Decision-
Making/Problem-Solving. The models range from quite concrete
action models to abstract schemata and metaknowledge models.
They include a wide range from simple rules for handling
routine and well-known situations by rote, to procedures for
more complex Decision-Making which may need the creation of
innovative actions, to methodologies and procedures for novel
Problem-Solving. Selection of the mental models that will be
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called into action depends on the particular level of situation
familiarity and understanding that resulted from Sensemaking.
The mental reference models for Decision-Making/Problem-
Solving, particularly for more complex situations, are often
broad and abstract and need integration and operationalizing to
become applicable for the target situations. Good decisions
require broad perspectives, including assessments of potential
implications, and therefore must deal with uncertainties and
approximate (fuzzy) reasoning.