Sensemaking in Organizations

A popular and well known theory of organizational development and behavior is Sensemaking.

This concept is also used in philosophy, whether pragmatic or phenomenological, in cognitive psychology and linguistics, and other fields. It is close to framing in sociology, but applied to management and organizational activity.

In organizational development Sensemaking is most associated with the social psychologist Karl Weick and his book ‘Sensemaking in Organizations’, but many others have interpreted and elaborated upon it.

Sensemaking in organizations is foremostly, in the generic and literal sense, analytic logical perspective of the organizational setting for reflective and practical purposes to understand the framework of what has happened, what is happening, and what can happen in the future.

It serves as a tool or an approach for people within organizations, managers, employees and consultants, to operate and develop the organization and engage with organizational processes, as well as a theory for what organization is, an explanation as to the dynamic of organizations, in other words, how people organize.

One must learn to make sense of things in order to create a context of organizational progress, and keep matters consistent with that track of development, while continually learning and adapting along the narrow path.

Organizations, or work groups, like any human endeavor, are socially complex environments, where things are happening all the time, and different people are constantly understanding and communicating different things in different ways, and out of this chaos, if successful, somehow functionality rises, results are produced and meaning is drawn in the minds of the people.

Thus the sphere of mental activity, or cognition, must be analyzed, because the way people perceive and communicate, and not only concrete organizational occurrences, are essentially what organization is and where organization happens.

Language is central to organizational dynamics, perception and communication, and sensemaking. Besides the mental cognitive aspect, or as the mental cognitive aspect, language embodies human understanding and interactions. Words are sounds that we attribute meaning to, and we respond to them with meaning. The words themselves are meaningless sounds, but only through words can we share, perceive and communicate meaning.

Discourse, and narratives, the nature of using of words, coded phrases, and texts, are all objects of analysis, interpretation and application. Therefore, to practice sensemaking one must develop an expertise in hermeneutics, deciphering people’s words, intentions, and the meaning between the words. You understand discourse, identify the layers beyond the face-value, take part in the unfolding narrative, interpreting it and engaging with it at the same time and dynamically and dialectically.

Weick’s writings list the properties of Sensemaking as Identity, understanding and action relate to how we perceive ourselves and others; Retrospection, experiences are later reflected upon and their meaning is thus and then determined; Enactment, narrative affects how we understand the environment and behave accordingly; Sociality, dialogue is forged by people interacting with each other; Ongoing, a constant dynamic effort and not a singular event; Cues, we derive what we are supposed to do in reference to what is said and how situations are understood; Plausibility, it is more relevant to be practical and operate, while accurate truth may be out of reach and irrelevant in many cases, especially when people interpret shared experiences differently, yet decisions must be made.

In conclusion, Sensemaking is an important concept for understanding organizational processes and assisting organizational development. It is in our hands a tool to interpret complex situations and frame them in a constructive way. The principle overlaps into the notion of individuals learning and designing an environment of learning to create a learning organization.

Sensemaking may come from the players within an organization, from employees or managers, but the Sensemaking discerning input by a professional outsider is likely to be helpful!

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