Jun
15
One of the critical leadership capabilities required today is sensemaking, which is defined by Wikipedia as:
“..the ability or attempt to make sense of an ambiguous situation. More exactly, sensemaking is the process of creating situational awareness and understanding in situations of high complexity or uncertainty in order to make decisions.”
The MIT Leadership Center published an article that further describes the five major tasks involved in sensemaking titled “Making a Difference by Making Sense”. Sensemaking is also one of the components of the MIT Distributed Leadership Model, one of the best leadership frameworks, which I have discussed in a previous post. As discussed in the article…
“Leaders learn to compete, survive and change by first understanding the context in which an organization and its people operate….. leaders share a common challenge—the need to quickly assess a constantly changing environment and to continually readjust as they take in new information and impressions. How can they make sense of a world where feedback is unclear and inconsistent? Where the ‘correct’ answer is not obvious? Where they must understand and change their environment simultaneously? This important leadership challenge is called sensemaking: discovering new terrain as you invent it.”
Sensemaking consists of five major tasks:
- Observe: “Sensemakers ask, ‘What’s the story?’ They pay close attention to their environment and look for hints of change. Because the world does not evolve in linear fashion, sensemakers look for strategic inflection points.”
- Question: “… sensemakers ask for help. They are open about problems and gain perspective from outside advisors. Under pressure, people often fall back on their habitual ways of responding. But times of crisis frequently require innovative solutions. That’s why sensemakers must resist snap judgments. When they see similarities to a past situation, they need to step back and think about how the new situation may be different.”
- Act: “Sensemakers use early observations to shape decisions. They look for new ways to lay out alternatives and a better way to understand choices. Then, they take action and see what happens. They are like explorers, dropping a pebble into a pond to gauge its depth.”
- Reassess: “Sensemaking is grounded in an appreciation of what is. Therefore, every conclusion is open to question. Sensemakers realize that yesterday’s choices may not work today. A static model does not work in a dynamic world. Sensemakers have the courage to let go of prior assumptions. That’s why sensemakers never stop. The environment is always changing, so there is no final answer. Sensemakers continually review and update. Because experience informs action, sensemakers change their plans even as they roll them out.”
- Communicate: “Sensemakers are storytellers, and to tell stories they must simplify. Sensemakers help others understand complex situations, enabling the others to act.”
In summary …. “Sensemaking means acting in order to think. Sensemaking (where we are) spawns visioning (where we could be). By understanding their environment, the leaders described here learned how to compete, survive, and change.”
Sensemaking is a skill that all leaders need to develop and hone. Leaders need to be aware of the changing context in which they lead. How aware are you of your changing context?
Technorati Tags: Sensemaking, Business, Leadership, Management, Framework, Observe, Question, Execution
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