Your brain is wired for speed. It fills in gaps, makes assumptions, and jumps to conclusions—sometimes without you even noticing. When a team member misses a deadline, you might instantly think, "They're unreliable." When a client takes days to respond to your email, you might conclude, "They're not interested." These split-second judgments feel natural and we are all guilty of them—but are they accurate? The Ladder of Inference reveals how these mental leaps shape our decisions, relationships, and leadership effectiveness.
What Is the Ladder of Inference?
Developed by Chris Argyris and popularized by Peter Senge, the Ladder of Inference illuminates the lightning-fast process our minds use to transform raw information into decisions and actions. Think of it as your brain's built-in story-making engine.
Here's how it works:
Observable Data: The raw facts
What you actually see, hear, or touch
Just the facts, no interpretation
Selected Data: Your mental highlight reel
Which details catch your attention
What you choose to focus on
Interpretation: Your personal meaning-making
How you make sense of what you noticed
The story you start telling yourself
Assumptions: Your unconscious beliefs
What you take for granted
The gaps your brain fills in
Conclusions: Your judgments
What you decide is true
The meaning you've created
Beliefs: Your reinforced worldview
How this situation shapes your thinking
What you now hold as "truth"
Actions: Your responses
What you decide to do
How you change your behavior

When Your Ladder Leads to the Wrong Place
Your brain climbs this ladder lightning-fast, often without you noticing. Let's see it in action:
The Situation:
Observable Data: Colleague checks phone multiple times during a meeting
Selected Data: They're looking down, not participating
Interpretation: They're not paying attention
Assumption: They don't care about this project, they don’t care about me
Conclusion: They're not a team player, they don’t like me
Belief: They can't be trusted with important work
Action: You exclude them from future projects
But what if they were checking critical project updates? Or responding to a family emergency? One quick climb up the wrong ladder can damage relationships and derail collaboration.
Three Tools to Stay Grounded
Before you sprint up that ladder, try these reality checks:
Get Real with the Data (The data I’m observing ….)
What did you actually see or hear?
Can you describe it without interpretation?
What might you be missing?
Check Your Emotions (The feeling that elicits in me ….)
What feelings came up?
How might they be coloring your view?
What past experiences are influencing you?
Question Your Story (The story I’m telling myself …)
What assumptions are you making?
What other explanations could fit?
What would you need to verify your interpretation?
Making It Work for You
The goal isn't to stop using the Ladder of Inference—that's impossible and unhelpful. Instead, aim to:
Notice when you're climbing
Question your assumptions
Stay curious longer
Consider other perspectives
Remember: The stories we tell ourselves shape our reality.
By understanding how you climb the Ladder of Inference, you can make more conscious choices about your interpretations, judgments, and actions. When we step back and challenge our assumptions, we open the door to clearer thinking, better relationships, and more effective decision-making. Instead of climbing the Ladder unconsciously, let’s choose to navigate the stories we tell ourselves with awareness and intention.