Adopted mental models make organizations blind to new problems.

Evidence

Haase, Roedenbeck and Söllner (2007) claim that once a certain knowledge or ideology has been adopted, individuals tend to see the same problems and to use the same instruments to solve them. Accordingly, individuals can only define or identify new problems on the basis of the mental models already available to them. If individuals build up knowledge in fields such as politics, public administration, social issues, environmental issues, etc., it is much easier to extend this existing knowledge than to start learning in a completely new field. Consequently, if a CPA expertise worked perfectly well in the past, a firm will not see a need to change that process in the future. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 379

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Ties epistemic closure to path dependence: expertise itself becomes the cage, since problems can only be perceived through already-acquired models.