[Ailist] Re: Meaning Making

Mon Oct 6 04:05:29 MDT 2008

Hi...sensemaking, cognitive meaning-making, is such an important part of our lives - it is the very upstream of what shows up in the material world.  

For those interested in sensemaking (because it is such a cool idea!), I did my dissertation work in this area:  "Building Knowledge through Sensemaking: Connecting the Dots of New Information", just finished it in May 2008.  I interviewed successful business executives, using verbal protocol analysis and then reflective interviews.  

If you are interested in my findings, please email me.

Mel Minarik, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.H.E.
Graduate Program Director
UNR-School of Community Health Sciences/274

-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu [mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Jeff Miller
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 2:58 PM
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu; wjs.consulting at shaw.ca
Subject: [Ailist] Re: Meaning Making

Hello Bill

I don't have an activity, but one of the blogs that I track had a really good piece on 
"sensemaking".  I started sharing it with students this summer in the MBA classes I teach, 
and it seemed to be quite helpful as I push them to write final papers  that answer the "so 
what" question....... you've been through this class and explored various aspects of 
organizational stewardship (including appreciative inquiry), so what?  Tell me how this all 
fits together for you.

I'm pasting the blog entry below on sensemaking (including the link to the site).  I hope 
you find this of value.

Good luck!     /jeff miller

---------------------------

The importance of sensemaking in leadership
Sunday, June 15, 2008, 2:32:39 PM | George Ambler
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?
Pasted from <http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThePracticeOfLeadership>

> Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 16:08:31 -0700
> From: "Bill Scott" <wjs.consulting at shaw.ca>
> Subject: [Ailist] Meaning Making Exercise?
> Hello all,
> 
> Im teaching a fourth year university level course that is focusing on
> the use of appreciative process in groups and teams. 
> 
> I want to do a segment on meaning making and I was wondering if anyone
> had developed an exercise that they are really fond of. I have the
> students do appreciative interviews with one another and do thematic
> analysis of the data that they have captured  and of course, this
> includes meaning making. But Im wondering if anyone has developed a
> standalone exercise that emphasizes the point of meaning making.
> 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Miller, Ph.D.
Innovative Leadership Solutions, Inc.
6526 Oxford Drive
Zionsville, IN 46077
office: +1 317-733-8635
via Skype: jeffmiller79
http://www.inleadsol.com
------------------------------------------
e-mail:  jeff at inleadsol.com  or                   
miller.3293 at osu.edu 

 - Vist the "ShareAndLearn" blog at:
http://jeffsshareandlearn.blogspot.com
- See the ShareAndLearn e-archive at:
http://lists.topica.com/lists/shareandlearn/read

"Change happens from the outside in but transformation happens from the inside out."            
- Dan Burrus
.

_______________________________________________
The Appreciative Inquiry Discussion List is hosted by the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Jack Brittain is the list administrator. For subscription information, go to:
http://mailman.business.utah.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/ailist