How we confuse ourselves

In a meeting recently I saw a colleague write up more than 5 pages of notes. The next day they said how confused they felt about it all.

What were all the notes about then?

Sometimes we can capture content others are delivering, thinking we’re doing well, getting all of that information down. But it can end up meaning nothing to us later. We don’t seem to be able to find what the key points were or what the essence of it was.

As I chatted with my colleague later and we reviewed their notes, they were words, phrases, things underlined. These were the key things they heard. But later, none of it really made much sense. There was no synthesis, distilling, connections or conclusions. The notes were parts of sentences.

In sensemaking, it helps to pause, listen, make sense of what’s going on, and write that down. It is habit (and fear) that drives us to write it all down like a court reporter! But we don’t need to write it all.

So make sense as you go, capture information as it makes sense to you.

Go for distilling information rather than transcribing it!

The cost of overwhelm

When it hits you, that information overload feeling, what do you do? Panic? Get a coffee? Look at your phone?

None of these are helpful.

The feeling of overload, that ‘full sponge’ feeling isn’t pleasant.

Disengagement, distraction and withdrawal are all behaviours connected with information overload.

We try to cope. How often do we nod to say we understand something or have the information in hand, but in reality we're scrambling to catch up, struggling to stay awake or fed up with feigning interest?

Could it be career limiting if we don’t appear smart, sharp and “all over it”, having all the information under our control?

Enough.

It’s time to call out when something doesn’t make sense or the pace, quantity or style of information is overwhelming us.

It’s most likely overwhelming others too. We have a responsibility as communicators of information to guard against information overload in ourselves, and creating overwhelm for others.

We don’t need to suffer. Cognitive load coping is very much a skill for today....and the future.

The cost of confusion

How much time do we spend trying to make sense of things, re-reading, scanning, skipping through information trying to piece it all together.

While the world’s productivity gurus are keen on selling us a new app or habit, what if we looked at the cost of confusion and sought to reduce the time we spend confusing people.

Rather than acting like we’ve got it together, what if we set aside a few minutes in a meeting to make sense? What if, instead of saying ’Now, let me give you some context’ and embarking on a 15-minute explanation of the history going back to the 1900s (yes this happened recently) we asked, ‘What do you need to make sense of?’

What if we shut up first.

What if we asked them about the parts they need to make sense of.

Imagine all the unnecessary detail, the overly long ‘context’ monologues and the long-winded ‘let-me-tell-you-about-the-history-of-this-thing’ stories.

Check first. What do they need? Where is their knowledge now; where does it need to be? Don't add to the overload; make sense instead.

Q: What’s a topic you’re confused about right now? 

What sensemaking is and why we need it

When the Institute for the Future said sensemaking was something we'd need for 2020 and beyond, I'm sure many people thought 'Huh? What is that, why do I need it?'

We have some natural abilities to make sense yet we also need sharper skills when problem solving and dealing with complex issues and information.  

I wrote a book called 'Making Sense: A Handbook for the Future of Work'. This books proposes that using visuals isn't about pretty pictures, but rather functional and practical tools that help us get to grips with information and ideas quickly.

The sooner we make sense of what's going on, the sooner we can make decisions ... and the sooner we can act.

We usually try to make sense by talking to (or at) each other. But making a 'map' is more effective.

How do you make a map? In 'Making Sense' I've provided: 40 thought starters 10 thinking tools 21 techniques 32 templates to help you make maps for sense. So when you need to make sense of things, get the book out, start mapping and sensemaking. You'll be equipped to decide and act... sooner.

Q: How do you currently make sense of things? 

Deduce the meaning

When meetings and workshops get messy and don’t seem to make sense:

🌕 Clarify the Content

🌕 Traverse the Breadth

🌕 Explore the Depth.

And then… Deduce the meaning.

As you go into depth on a topic, try and get to meaning, understanding and comprehension as quickly as possible. The game is not to guess. The game or race is to meaning. The sooner you can get the meaning of things - as you progress - the better progress, the better sense you'll make.

Help people understand. Get to the meaning of what this is about.

But how would you know if it's making sense to them? You ask. Ask not 'Is this making sense?' or 'Does this make sense?' Both are tragic closed yes/no answers.

Ask 'What sense is this making right now? or 'What sense are you getting from this?' These are open questions, inviting people to make a summary of the meaning they're getting right now.

Q: How do you work out what the meaning of something is?