Sensemaking
Sensemaking is the human process of understanding and navigating new and often uncertain situations. It involves organizing existing knowledge, reflecting on past experiences, and creating a plan to address unfamiliar challenges. As circumstances evolve, individuals or groups engaged in sensemaking continuously reassess and adjust their initial plans based on new information and insights. This concept is particularly relevant in organizational contexts, where leaders utilize sensemaking to effectively respond to unexpected issues, such as crises or changes in market conditions.
The term was first associated with the work of sociologist Harold Garfinkel and later popularized by organizational theorist Karl E. Weick, who highlighted how one's identity and past experiences influence their interpretation of current events. Effective sensemaking involves gathering diverse information, engaging multiple perspectives, and maintaining flexibility to adapt plans as new insights emerge. It is a vital skill not only for business leaders but also for individuals facing everyday life changes, such as starting a new job or dealing with significant personal challenges. Ultimately, sensemaking emphasizes the importance of creating a mental framework to guide decision-making in the face of uncertainty.
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Subject Terms
Sensemaking
Sensemaking is a term used for the human process of trying to understand and act in new circumstances, especially those that are unique, unexpected, or unclear. It involves organizing what is known about the situation, comparing it to past experience, and developing a map or plan for negotiating it into the unknown experience. As the new experience unfolds, the initial plan will be reevaluated and revised as necessary, or discarded in favor of a new plan.
The concept of sensemaking is important in many new situations, whether they are faced by individuals or groups. However, the term sensemaking is most often used in a group context. Business organizations, in particular, talk about sensemaking as a way that leaders can respond to new challenges and opportunities. Sensemaking is seen as a key skill for effective leaders.
Background
In the early decades of the century, the concept of sensemaking was referenced but not named as researchers began studying how business and industry worked. In the mid-1960s, American sociologist Harold Garfinkel was the first to use the term in association with his work in ethnomethodology, or the study of the everyday behaviors of people as they interact with and interpret reality. Others adopted the term as well as related terms, such as sense-reading and sensegiving, to describe the same concept.
The concept of sensemaking is most often associated with Karl E. Weick. The American organizational theorist included the concept in his 1969 book, The Social Psychology of Organizing. He expanded on the concept in his best-known work, the 1995 book Sensemaking in Organizations. Among the concepts discussed in the book are how a person’s identity, or self-concept, affects how that person sees and interacts with the world, how past experiences and memories shape current experiences, and how sensemaking is an ongoing practice.
Overview
Sensemaking at its simplest is making sense of the world, but the concept involves far more than it might initially seem. The concept is most frequently used in connection with dealing with some aspect of the world that is unknown, unexpected, or cannot easily be understood. It therefore involves making sense of a new, changed version of the world by those who have little or no information on how to proceed.
Sensemaking is something like playing a game for which there is only a hazy idea of the rules. The player has a vague idea of what the expected outcome of the game should be and knows that games usually involve taking turns and advancing some sort of a game piece forward or around on the board, but little else. Sensemaking is the process of forming a map or plan for negotiating through the unknown aspects of the game, or the situation. At the same time, the person or team engaged in sensemaking is revising what is known and unknown, reorganizing this information, and formulating the next steps.
For example, a company can make plans for coping with financial downturns, for production delays, and for natural disasters, but may not have a plan for dealing with a scandal that develops around several key leaders and that results in significant fallout for the business. Dealing with this unexpected problem with a revised and untested leadership team will require those leaders to practice sensemaking. They will have to juggle unfamiliar roles, changes to how business is done, outside perception of the company, internal employee reactions, and their own personal feelings about the situation. The leaders’ abilities to grasp new information, add it to what is already known, and organize this into a sensible plan of action will affect their success.
Sensemaking does not always involve large sweeping scenarios, however. Business leaders might apply sensemaking to understanding why a team that was previously successful has suddenly become unproductive. The ability to change and adapt even in new and uncertain situations is an important business skill.
It is also an important interpersonal skill for individuals. New situations occur all the time in everyday life. Situations as common as a new job or changing to a new school require the application of sensemaking skills. Developing a serious illness or taking in a family member or friend in need can require people to deal with situations that they have never faced before. Whether they are aware of it or not, people in these situations are applying sensemaking to manage the situation.
Experts say that one of the keys to sensemaking is forming a mental map of the situation and how to proceed. Having a map or plan is more important than the accuracy of the initial map. This is because the map’s purpose is to provide a framework for organizing the known information about the situation and forming an idea of how to start to approach the new circumstances. This map or plan will almost certainly change as new information is learned and experience reveals what efforts at progress are successful and which are not.
Several steps are particularly effective when undertaking efforts at sensemaking. These include the following:
- Gather as much information as possible about the situation. Information from different sources can help reveal patterns and uncover the future steps with the highest probability of success.
- Involve others in the sensemaking process. Drawing in a variety of perspectives and experiences establishes a broader base for formulating the initial plan or map.
- Try new perspectives for looking at the situation. Dealing with unfamiliar problems will most likely benefit from applying new ways of viewing and reviewing the problem.
- Look beyond things that have worked in the past and not sticking rigidly to any plan. This allows the new plan or map to change and unfold as circumstances change.
- Be willing to experiment in small ways as the process unfolds.
People applying sensemaking should remain flexible and open to change while moving into and going through the new experience. They should also take steps to avoid letting the fear that comes with the unknown affect how the situation is seen. Instead, they should identify what steps need to be taken to manage their circumstances.
Bibliography
Ancona, Deborah. “Sensemaking: Framing and Acting on the Unknown.” The Handbook for Teaching Leadership, edited by Scott A. Snook, et al., Sage, 2011, pp. 3–19.
Czarniawska, Barbara. “Karl Weick: Concepts, Style and Reflection,” Sociological Review, vol. 53, no. S1, Nov. 2005, pp. 267–78.
Madsbjerg, Christian. Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm. Grand Central Publishing, 2017.
Maitlis, Sally, and Marlys Christianson. “Sensemaking in Organizations: Taking Stock and Moving Forward.” Academy of Management Annals, vol. 8, no. 1, 2014, pp. 57–125.
McNamara, Laura A. “Sensemaking in Organizations: Reflections on Karl Weick and Social Theory.” EPIC, 24 Mar. 2015, www.epicpeople.org/sensemaking-in-organizations/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Saeed, Imran, et al. "Employee Sensemaking in Organizational Change Via Knowledge Management: Leadership Role As A Moderator." Current Psychology vol. 43, no. 7, 2024, 6657-71, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-023-04849-x. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Selvaraj, Nallini, et al. “How Analysts Think: Think-Steps as a Tool for Structuring Sensemaking in Criminal Intelligence Analysis.” European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference, 2016, www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/eisic/2016/2857/00/07870192.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.