“Sensemaking is the process by which people interpret, understand & give meaning to complex, ambiguous or unexpected situations. Figuring out “What’s going on” & “What should we do next”.
Under Maria Scordialos’ wise guidance, colleagues from DG HR, JRC and EC Centre for Organisational Transformation explored what sensemaking means in times of complexity and uncertainty.
It starts with listening to people’s stories on a shared topic. Then we look for patterns, map them, and discover patterns within patterns until insights begin to emerge, sometimes pointing to what we should do next.
What stayed with me most is this: the stories must be told by the people at the heart of the issue, and explored together with them. Sensemaking is a collective process that draws on the group’s shared intelligence, the more diverse the group, the richer the insights.
And one more thing: even an impromptu graphic recording like mine can help people make sense of conversations on complex topics.
This post on Linkedin and Instagram
