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Summary
Every day, leaders are required to make decisions without having all the information they would like. Markets shift, technologies evolve, customer expectations change and new challenges emerge faster than traditional planning processes can keep pace. In these situations, success depends less on finding the perfect answer and more on developing a better understanding of what is actually happening.
This is where sensemaking becomes essential.
In this episode, I introduce sensemaking as the leadership capability that brings together everything we’ve explored throughout the CARES framework. Sensemaking is the ongoing process of noticing signals, interpreting patterns, testing assumptions and continually updating our understanding as reality changes. Rather than searching for certainty, leaders learn to develop plausible explanations that help them act, learn and adapt. In a world that refuses to stand still, the ability to make better sense of ourselves, other people and the changing environment may be the most important leadership capability of all.
Why This Matters
The greatest challenge facing leaders today isn’t the lack of information. It’s the abundance of it.
Every day we are surrounded by news, data, opinions, trends, predictions and competing narratives. Artificial intelligence can generate answers in seconds. Dashboards provide more metrics than ever before. Yet despite all this information, many leaders feel more uncertain than they did a decade ago.
Information alone doesn’t create clarity. Meaning does.
The leaders who navigate uncertainty most effectively aren’t necessarily those with access to more information. They are the ones who know how to interpret it, recognise what matters, question their assumptions and continually update their understanding as circumstances evolve. That is the essence of sensemaking.
And increasingly, it is the capability that separates those who merely react to change from those who learn and lead through it.
Big Idea
Leadership is not about having the right answers. It is about making better sense of a changing reality so that we can take the next best step.
Sensemaking transforms uncertainty from something to fear into something we can explore, understand and learn from.
In This Episode
In this episode, you’ll explore:
- What sensemaking is and why it has become one of the defining capabilities of modern leadership.
- Why information alone rarely leads to better decisions.
- How leaders move from confusion to clarity by continually interpreting and updating their understanding.
- Why action is part of learning rather than something that happens after learning is complete.
- Five practical habits that strengthen sensemaking in individuals and organisations.
- How sensemaking brings together credibility, adaptability, resolve and emotional intelligence into an integrated way of leading.
Episode Notes
Leadership begins with making sense of the world
Every decision begins with an interpretation. Before we decide what to do, we first decide—often unconsciously—what we believe is happening. Is the market changing? Is customer behaviour shifting? Is resistance coming from poor communication or from genuine disagreement? Is a project failing because the strategy is wrong or because execution needs improving?
The answers to these questions aren’t immediately obvious. They require interpretation. This process of interpreting the world around us is what organisational theorist Karl Weick described as sensemaking.
At its heart, sensemaking is remarkably simple. It is the process of constructing a plausible understanding of a situation so that we can act within it. Notice the word plausible. Not perfect. Not complete. Not certain. Plausible. That distinction changes everything.
The world changes while we’re trying to understand it
Traditional approaches to decision-making often assume that we first gather information, then analyse it, then decide and finally act. That model works reasonably well when the environment is stable. Today’s world rarely gives us that luxury. By the time we’ve finished analysing one situation, the situation itself may already have changed. New technologies emerge. Customer expectations evolve. Political events reshape markets. Competitors introduce unexpected innovations. The map changes while we’re still drawing it. Sensemaking recognises this reality.
Instead of waiting until we have complete certainty, it encourages us to develop our best current understanding, take thoughtful action and then continue refining that understanding as new information becomes available. In this way, thinking and acting become part of the same continuous cycle rather than two separate activities.
Sensemaking is how leaders learn in real time
One of the reasons I find sensemaking so powerful is that it acknowledges something every leader experiences. We rarely know everything we need to know. Instead, we notice signals. We begin recognising patterns. We develop an initial explanation. We test it through conversations, observation and action. Sometimes our interpretation becomes stronger. Sometimes new evidence forces us to rethink everything. Both outcomes represent progress.
Because the goal of sensemaking isn’t proving ourselves right. It’s improving our understanding. This makes leadership a profoundly iterative process. Every decision changes the situation. Every conversation generates new information. Every action reveals something we couldn’t have known beforehand.
Good leaders don’t simply execute plans. They continually learn from the consequences of those plans.
Why plausibility matters more than certainty
One of Karl Weick’s most influential ideas is that during periods of uncertainty, plausibility is often more useful than accuracy. At first, this sounds surprising. Surely leaders should strive for accuracy. Of course they should. But when situations are changing rapidly, complete accuracy is usually impossible. Waiting for perfect certainty often leads to paralysis. Meanwhile, organisations lose momentum. People become anxious. Opportunities disappear.
Sensemaking offers a different approach. Develop the most plausible understanding available. Communicate it clearly. Act. Observe what happens. Learn. Revise your understanding. Act again. This doesn’t mean acting recklessly. It means recognising that action itself becomes part of the learning process. Rather than waiting for certainty before moving, leaders use movement to create greater clarity.
Sensemaking is really about challenging our own thinking
One of the greatest obstacles to effective leadership isn’t the complexity of the world. It’s the assumptions we carry into it. Every leader operates with mental models. We develop beliefs about how organisations work. How customers behave. What motivates people. What success looks like.
These mental models help us make decisions efficiently. But they can also become invisible. We stop questioning them because they feel like reality itself. Sensemaking requires something different. It asks us to become curious about our own thinking. Instead of asking,
“What do I think is happening?”
we also ask,
“What assumptions am I making?”
“What evidence contradicts my view?”
“Who sees this situation differently?”
“What might I be missing?”
These questions don’t weaken leadership. They strengthen it. Because the quality of our decisions depends on the quality of the assumptions beneath them.
Sensemaking is not a solo activity
One of the biggest myths about leadership is that leaders should have all the answers. In reality, the more complex the challenge, the less likely any single person can fully understand it. Sensemaking therefore becomes a collective process. Different people notice different signals. Different experiences generate different interpretations. Different perspectives reveal blind spots we cannot see ourselves.
The most effective leaders deliberately seek out disagreement. Not because they enjoy conflict. But because they understand that diversity of thought improves the quality of collective understanding. Good sensemaking isn’t about confirming what we already believe. It’s about expanding what becomes possible to see.
The five practices of effective sensemaking
Research into leadership and organisational learning suggests that strong sensemakers consistently develop five habits.
First, they explore widely. They stay connected to customers, employees, partners and developments beyond their own industry.
Second, they actively seek perspectives that challenge their own. Rather than surrounding themselves with agreement, they invite thoughtful disagreement because it exposes hidden assumptions.
Third, they treat assumptions as hypotheses rather than facts. They test ideas through small experiments, conversations and observation before making major commitments.
Fourth, they look through multiple lenses. Complex problems rarely have single causes or simple solutions. They deliberately consider different viewpoints before reaching conclusions.
Finally, they continue learning after acting. Implementation isn’t the end of sensemaking. It generates the next round of information that helps refine future decisions.
Sensemaking is ultimately about living with uncertainty
Perhaps the greatest lesson of sensemaking is that uncertainty isn’t something to eliminate. It is something to work with. The goal isn’t to predict the future perfectly. It is to remain sufficiently curious, humble and adaptable that we continue updating our understanding as reality evolves.
When we stop seeking certainty and start seeking understanding, leadership becomes less about defending our answers and more about asking better questions. And perhaps that is the real work of leadership today. Not knowing. But continually making better sense of a changing world.
Key Takeaways
- Sensemaking is the ongoing process of interpreting a changing world so that we can act wisely within it.
- Leadership requires developing plausible understanding rather than waiting for perfect certainty.
- Action and learning are inseparable; every decision generates new information that improves future understanding.
- Effective sensemaking depends on questioning assumptions, inviting diverse perspectives and continually updating our mental models.
- Sensemaking is the capability that integrates credibility, adaptability, resolve and emotional intelligence into wiser leadership.
Reflection Questions
- Think about a decision you’ve made recently. What assumptions were you making at the time? Looking back, which of those assumptions turned out to be inaccurate?
- When faced with uncertainty, do you naturally seek more information, seek more perspectives, or move quickly into action? What are the strengths and limitations of your approach?
- Who regularly challenges your thinking? Do you intentionally seek out people who see the world differently from you?
- How comfortable are you changing your mind when new evidence emerges? What makes that easy—or difficult?
- Looking at a challenge you’re currently facing, what might you be missing? What other interpretations could explain the same situation?
Putting It Into Practice
Sensemaking is not something we do only during major strategic decisions. It is a daily leadership practice of observing, questioning, interpreting and learning. Here are a few ways to begin strengthening this capability.
- Notice before you judge. The next time something unexpected happens, resist the urge to explain it immediately. Instead ask yourself, “What am I actually observing?” Separate facts from interpretations before drawing conclusions.
- Surface your mental map. Choose one challenge you’re currently facing and write down your current understanding of it. What do you believe is happening? Why? What assumptions are you making? Making your thinking visible is the first step to improving it.
- Seek one perspective that disagrees with yours. Deliberately ask someone who sees the issue differently, “How do you see this?” Don’t listen to defend your view—listen to expand it.
- Run a small experiment. Rather than waiting until you have complete certainty, ask, “What’s the smallest action I can take to test my understanding?” Treat action as a way of learning, not just implementing.
- Reflect and revise. At the end of each week, ask yourself, “What have I learned that has changed my understanding?” Sensemaking is complete only when new learning updates the way we think.
Transcript
Read Full Transcript
Episode 7 – Sensemaking: A Critical Leadership Skill in the VUCA World
Welcome to the final episode in the CARES leadership series.
Throughout this series, we’ve explored five capabilities that help leaders navigate an increasingly uncertain world: Credibility, Adaptability, Resolve, Emotional Intelligence and Sensemaking.
In many ways, sensemaking brings all the others together.
Sensemaking is the process of developing an understanding of a changing situation so that we can act effectively within it. Rather than searching for perfect certainty, we build an initial interpretation, test it through conversations, observation and action, and then continually refine our understanding as new information emerges.
In today’s world, leaders rarely have the luxury of waiting until they possess all the answers.
Markets evolve.
Customer expectations shift.
Technologies emerge.
Organisations change.
The challenge is to keep learning while continuing to lead.
Effective sensemaking begins by paying attention to the signals around us.
We gather information from multiple sources, seek perspectives that challenge our assumptions and remain curious about what we may not yet understand.
Rather than becoming attached to a single explanation, we treat our ideas as working hypotheses that improve over time.
Action is an important part of this process.
Every decision provides feedback.
Every conversation reveals new information.
Every experiment strengthens—or reshapes—our understanding.
In this way, learning and leadership become inseparable.
Strong sensemakers also recognise that no single person sees the whole picture.
They actively involve others, drawing on diverse perspectives to build a richer understanding of complex situations.
This not only improves decisions but also strengthens trust, engagement and collective ownership of change.
Sensemaking is therefore not about finding the perfect answer.
It is about continually making better sense of ourselves, the people around us and the world we are trying to lead within.
As our understanding evolves, so do our decisions.
And as our decisions evolve, so does the future we help create.
A Thought to Leave You With
Throughout this series we’ve explored trust, adaptability, purpose, emotional intelligence and, finally, sensemaking. Each capability matters on its own. Together, they form a way of leading that is deeply human, thoughtful and responsive to a changing world. We may never eliminate uncertainty, but we can become better at making sense of it. And perhaps that’s what leadership has always been—not having all the answers, but helping ourselves and others find clarity, take the next step and keep learning along the way.
