Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

arrow_back_ios_new
MENTAL MODEL · M8834

Great Man Changes Like a Tiger

Great Man Changes Like a Tiger
StructuremediumCritical Thinking
Included
account_tree

Updated 2026-08-10

Loading revision record…

INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

A phrase from the Ge hexagram of the I Ching, where the great man changes as a tiger does and his pattern shines. It describes reform led by those in authority, whose transformation must be conspicuous, coherent, and legible so that others can align with it. The qualification concerns both scale and order: the change is striking rather than violent, and it presupposes communication, since a transformation nobody notices cannot guide behaviour.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Use Visible Reform: have leaders make change unmistakable through public decisions, not memos. - Use Signal Consistency: align words, budget, and personnel so the new direction is credible.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Subordinates read authority's behaviour as information about what is genuinely expected. When senior figures visibly break with past practice, the cost of clinging to old routines rises and expectations converge quickly; when the change stays private, everyone waits for someone else to move first.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

Check to track your progress (stored locally)
Learning progress0%
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

  • link
    zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%98%93/%E9%9D%A9ZH · Explicit
    verified

RELATED MODELS

Related model

Candlemakers' Petition

Bastiat’s fictional petition to block sunlight satirizes trade protectionism.

arrow_forwardRelated model

Sherlocking

Sherlocking refers to the phenomenon where a platform owner copies the features of a third-party developer's app and integrates them into the platform, thereby rendering the third-party app obsolete. The term originates from Apple's Sherlock search tool, which was introduced in Mac OS 8.5 and later incorporated features similar to those of third-party search utilities like Watson, leading to the coining of the term.

arrow_forwardRelated model

The Shirley Exception

When you see a rule or warning, you subconsciously think, "This definitely doesn't apply to me, because I'm special (e.g., my name is Shirley, I'm kind-hearted)."

arrow_forward