Status

This is a proposed task force (TF) of the ToIP Concepts and Terminology Working Group (CTWG). It has not yet an active TF. We currently anticipate it becoming active in Q2 2023. At that point, an announcement will be made to the ToIP All-Member mailing list, and this status note will be updated.

Introduction

TOIP is a community in which people from all sorts of backgrounds (want to) participate. Their culture may not be Western. English may not be their native tongue. They may be experts in technical as well as non-technological topics that are relevant for TOIP. A gathering of people with so many differences, even if they are motivated to work together, is the raw ground on which misunderstandings thrive.

The mission of the CTWG Mental Model Task Force (MMTF) is to help (participants of) WGs/TFs to design and document mental models, i.e., (small) sets of concepts (ideas), relations between them, and constraints, such that together they form a coherent and consistent whole that helps the WG/TF e.g., for architecting, designing, and implementing both IT components and their governance processes.

This is no easy task. First, the design (and documenting) of mental models is currently a craft, of which some good examples exist. Second, using a mental model typically requires its user(s) to shift their reference perspective, similar to a person that gets a new pair of glasses: it takes time (and some perseverance) to get used to it to the point that the person is no longer aware that she uses them (similar to the four stages of competence). Nevertheless, mental models (or the terminology used therein) has already been used in WGs/TFs in the context of YOMA, and governance.

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