Ladder of Inference
The Ladder of Inference is a model developed by Chris Argyris and popularised by Peter Senge that describes the rapid, mostly unconscious process by which we move from raw observation to action through a series of inference steps. We select data, add meaning, make assumptions, draw conclusions, form beliefs, and take action — typically without awareness of the intermediate steps. The result: people in the same situation construct dramatically different realities and act on them with certainty, without realising how much interpretation shaped what they 'saw.'