Making sense
Leaders are increasingly relied upon to bring understanding of a changing and complex world.
They then need to communicate it, and apply the lessons learnt to help move the organisation towards a vision.
But how do we instill or encourage these traits?
Back in 1979, Karl Weick coined a new term: “sensemaking”. It has been defined as the ability to create and update maps of a complex environment in order to act more effectively in it. It combines multiple perspectives of a situation, brought together, tested and refined.
We all know leaders who are able to do this really well. When they speak in key meetings, they’re able to distill the narrative in ways that fit the known information. We find ourselves nodding along with the interpretation. It’s also the case in groups. The forming and norming stage of group work can often be about creating maps of the environment, and agreeing them, so that the group can perform (act effectively) going forwards.
But how do they do it? And how can we get better at it, or mentor others?
Seven facets of sensemaking
Weick identified seven properties which contribute towards sensemaking. Done well, each interacts in creating an effective map or narrative.
Identity. Our understanding of ourselves and our relationship to the world.
Retrospection. Noticing patterns - this can only happen based on historical data.
Socialisation. A recognition that our culture, education, social norms and peers strongly shape our interpretation, and that plausible narratives are retained and shared, whilst others are dropped.
Enaction. We test our narrative accounts, understanding what we think and organising our experiences appropriately. This enaction can also help us become understandable, ultimately helping to lead decision making and change.
Ongoing. Fluid and constantly transforming, as individuals shape and react to the surrounding environment.
Extract cues. This relates to cognition, helping us to decide what information is relevant or acceptable.
Plausibility. People generally consider that plausibility is sufficient, over and above accuracy. This can be helpful - if we question everything, we waste time - or dangerous. Plausibility can be a function of culture or groupthink, and can lead an organisation into some terrible decisions.
Finding truth
In our postmodern era, society is generally aware that “the map is not the reality”. Postmodernism was built on a questioning of narrative, a recognition that our interpretation individually and societally had great impact on our version of truth, and thus the decisions we take.
Sensemaking identifies this at an individual and organisational level, and breaks down our ability to test interpretations and use the strengths of various perspectives to get to a “best fit” narrative.
To put it a different way, it is our ability to identify truth - the reality within which our organisations operate. It helps us to accurately diagnose trends, and thus forecast changes. If we know “truth”, we make better decisions. Our organisation can become more effective in its objectives.
So a leader is a sensemaker when they are able to create maps or narratives which are sufficiently plausible, accurate and enacted, such that they lead to agreed, effective change.
A modern example
The current drive for digitalisation (and Big Data) stems in part from a recognition that we gain better insights from more accurate up-to-date data. If we can collect information in real-time, and use it to draft narratives which are closer to "truth”, our group or organisation should be able to make more effective decisions.
But this is where sensemaking really hits. Digitalisation will only work if we can set up the data collection well - understanding its limitations - and interpret it accurately. Data is necessarily retrospective. Just because something has happened before does not mean it will continue the same way, particularly in a complex changing environment. Sensemaking is the art of understanding and communicating this, so that we treat the data with the required importance in our overall decision making.
How can we improve?
Jumping to conclusions is the antithesis of sensemaking. So how do we avoid it?
We can teach our staff to sensemake, and instill it in our meetings. This could be through enquiry, asking intelligent questions, or by ensuring all perspectives and voices are heard and reacted to. A single ill-informed perspective should be challenged.
We can improve our own perspectives. Wider reading is an obvious help, deliberately benefiting from a breadth of viewpoints and ways of addressing issues. This doesn’t have to be expensive or take years. Curate a set of blogs which widen your perspective. Learn to recognise where someone’s perspective is overly shaped by culture or peers, and test whether it must be true.
We can model it ourselves (see this MIT Sloan article for more). If our senior team role-model an ability to test narratives effectively, others will copy. We can instill it in our organisational culture, helping us internally and externally. For example, in our engagement with consultancy clients, one of our most important tasks is that we identify the map effectively - sometimes in a new complex sector for us. This freshness (approaching a new environment) can help - it allows us to challenge norms or common perceptions that may not be helpful.