Making sense and meaning

There is sensemaking and there is meaning making. 

When things happen we have the opportunity to look at them, talk about them and make sense of them. 

As we do that, we thread our own meaning into those events. Our own lens or perspective. 

Through sensemaking we may well understand what’s going on. But it’s not until we make meaning of it that it really ... you know ... means something to us. 

It’s possibly why businesses the world over may struggle with change. Some things just don’t make any sense ... so what could that possibly mean? 

> Sensemaking is great for insight, strategy and decision making. 
> Meaning making is wonderful for connection, engagement and trust. 

Film makers and story tellers do both so well, building up complex layers of sense and meaning, building tension and intrigue, teasing the mind and then ... touching the heart. 

It makes sense AND it means something. 

Help people make sense, sure. 

Then leave it with them to settle or ‘marinate’ allowing them time to make meaning. 

And then ... listen to their meaning. 

Summaries are super

In our overwhelm of information, meetings, emotions and the impact of change, to summarise ...is to care. We can’t possibly be listening as well as we might usually.

So don’t just finish your meeting, call or session. Make time to recap and summarise and bring it all together. Spend just a minute, or 3 or 5, summarising what happened, where we are at, what is next. 

It’s ok to repeat stuff. 

We don’t do it enough in ’normal times’, so it’s needed even more in these new normal times. As you bring things together, tying up lose ends for people, reminding and recapping, you’ll help them release some of the mental cognitive load they’ve been carrying.

You help do some of the sorting and storing work for them and their brain. It’s just a smart, leader-y thing to do. 

And it’s a caring thing to do, considering the emotional weights that can fill our mind. A synopsis, a digest ... a nutshell. 

Their brain will say ‘thank you’ even if they don’t. It’s a service most certainly worth the time and effort.

What a relief! A leader who make sense

In this crazy cray-cray world, it's relieving to hear a leader explain what’s going on, talk about what we need to do about it, how it will be ok, even if there’s a challenge up ahead.

A leader who’s not sugar-coating it, bluffing, boasting or waffling on. They're not making it about them. They're frank and practical about what’s going on.

And there’s an empathy and an understanding there too.

It’s a subtle mix yet a powerful practice. And it’s relieving because it is honest, helpful. It reduces our uncertainty, relieves some anxiety and helps gain our buy-in for a new future.

✋ No more Me Monsters

✋ No more Chaos Conveyers

✋ No more Status Seekers

✋ No more Blah Blasters.

Workplaces of today - and the humans in them, creating value for the customers and clients they serve - need leaders who make sense.

Bid farewell to these four pesky characters. They’re no longer required as part of your contemporary, engaging, inspiring leadership.

Q: Who did I miss? What other bad movers are there, leaders who DON'T make sense?