Sensemaking is like listening on steroids

The performance enhancing tool for workplaces today is sensemaking. It's the skill of connecting dots and understanding the deeper meaning of what’s being discussed.

When we try to take information in, understand what’s going on or decide what to do, we can use sensemaking to help us listen, think and decide. Too often we suffer misunderstandings, time wasting repetition, conversations that go around in circles, people interrupting, and still others who repeat information … but LOUDER! We’re all trying to understand what’s going on, and work out what we need to do about it.

It can be too hard (and dull) to make sense just sitting around a table or via remote hookup looking at each other. That’s because sensemaking may not come as naturally as we assume it does. 'I can listen, I can think, I can talk. Therefore I can make sense, can’t I?’

We need to do something more. We need to write some stuff down, to map it out - and thankfully, 'any old map will do’, says sensemaking guru Karl Weick.

More to come this week on sensemaking...if you'd like more info on sense making, let me know. 

Managing information overload in a world of too much %$#&* information

The Institute for the Future said cognitive load coping was a 'got to have it' skill for 2020. I've been keynoting at conferences on Day 1 giving delegates these much needed 'cognitive load coping' skills.

Are we ever 'taught' or 'shown' what to do in a situation of information overload? Many people zone out, reach for the comfort of their mobile device, feign understanding (head nodding) or daydream.

Info overload at conferences happens:

🐌 g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y (end of Day 1 you feel zombie-ish)

or

🚀 rapidly (presentation is so fast, laden with charts and stats you lose the threads ... gone).

Part of the 'it's all too much' zone is when we foolishly choose to REWORK information. We store it (take photos of slides at conferences, save PDFs, type notes, screenshot stuff) fully intending to 'look at it later'.

But it's one of the most ineffective and inefficient ways to handle information overload. Rather, get up out of the 'it's all too much zone'. It's worth building the confidence and capability to handle all that information, live ... in the moment so you are indeed 'all over it'.

Know where your thinking is at

With all the information flooding in to our mind - posts, meetings, documents, reports, media ... plus the things we make up in our own mind - knowing where your thinking is at is a powerful form of self-leadership.

Where are you?

⬅️ Are you at HINDSIGHT - the past? This is about stories, sharing what happened and it helps us make sense of now or the future via what has already taken place.

⬇️ Are you at INSIGHT - the now, present? This is where information is coming in ("incoming!!") and we need to interpret it, connect it and integrate it.

➡️ Are you at FORESIGHT - the future, thinking about the next? This is about predictions, projections of what might happen (based on what happened in the past or what's happening now).

None of them, or any of the locations are wrong or right. It's the knowing where you're "at", this is the powerful thing about thinking and sensemaking.

Sensemaking is understanding the deeper meaning of things and how we connect the dots. Are you aware of how you make sense?

We are more than pale, male stale

Quote diversity.

For your blog, presentation, proposal or slide deck … when you want to quote someone, quote with diversity. There’s a bias here and we need to act on it to counter it.

Not all your quotations need to come from Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein or Henry Ford. It’s worth finding greater diversity. You don’t need to choose from the first 4 quotes that come up when you Google ‘innovation quotations’ or ‘leadership quotes’. It’s lazy … and biased.

Source unique quotes from podcasts, interviews, books, blogs, articles, videos. When you do Google ‘leadership quotes’, go further than the first 4 or 24. Go deeper and wider to get diversity.

If a woman, a person of colour, a person with a disability, a person of a different cultural background, an LGBTQIA person is reading your proposal or reading your blog where you quote the same old quotes that are 'pale male stale’ ... good luck with that.

And ... if they are your target market, audience or decision maker, oops .. good luck with that.

Go for greater relevance and connection to more people; not that are quick or convenient to 'copy and paste'. It’s actually not that hard ... once you notice it, and then work to remove the bias. 

Beware the thieves of clarity

Are you tuned in to what steals clarity in your team, unit or organisation?

Is it meetings?

Lengthy reports?

Status updates?

Decks and presentations with complicated models, too much text, too many chevrons, arrows and ‘pillars’ or icebergs? 😜

The race is on for meaning and understanding. The sooner we understand, the sooner we can make decisions, get into action and get feedback and insights on that action.

But how much might we hiding behind work, tasks and activities that actually steal clarity, create ambiguity and generate more confusion? Do we busy ourselves working on stuff that doesn’t really support clarity … but rather steals it?

In this complex world, it’s better to be known for being able to cut through and get to clarity; not overly simplified, not dumbed down … just c-l-e-a-r. Today, be on the look out for the thieves of clarity. Don’t let them get away with it. Bring it back, hold onto it, keep it together because other people in the room, in the team, across the organisation need you to … stand up for clarity.

What do you see that steals clarity and understanding in your world of work?