Mental models are perceptions of reality that people develop of things they must deal with. These perceptions are very powerful beliefs which influence behavior and are often very difficult to overcome, even with hard data. Such beliefs can be derived from such terms as 'rules' and 'freedom', which are often powerful concepts that are ingrained in people's political and social beliefs. As such, they thus can play an important role in their acceptance of governance to implement change.

The most stubbom habits which resist change with the greatest tenacity are those which worked well for a space of time and led to the practitioner being rewarded for those behaviors. If you suddenly tell such persons that their recipe for success is no longer viable, their personal experience belies your diagnosis... Dominant cultures, by default, keep reproducing the same non-solutions all over again. This is why the experience with corporate transformation is filled with frustration. The implictness of the organizing assumptions, residing at the core of the organization's collective memory, is overpowering. Accepted on faith, these assumptions are transformed into unquestioned practices that may obstruct the future. - Jamshid Gharajedaghi, "Systems Thinking"