Sensemaking: The Key to Navigating the Complexity of Organizational Change

Photograph of Ken Rickard in front of star wars graphics, showing his love of story telling as part of sensemaking for organizational changeChris Murman and I recently caught up with Ken Rickard and took a deep dive into sensemaking in the context of organizational change. (We had previously chatted with Ken and Jason Little co-authors of “The Six Big Ideas of Adaptive Organizations: From Frameworks to Sensemaking“)

Embracing Vulnerability

Ken brought some fascinating insights to our follow-up conversation. One thing that really struck me was his approach to embracing vulnerability as a consultant. I’ve explored the topic of vulnerability in pods and blogs mostly from the perspective of leadership (by title as well as by influence). I hadn’t unpacked it much from the perspective of a change consultant role, as more often than not we see the big box consultants come in, promising the world, only to deliver a one-size-fits-all solution that doesn’t quite fit.

Ken’s approach is refreshingly honest and, I believe, much more effective in the long run. Instead of showing up as the all-knowing expert with a pre-packaged solution, Ken advocates for a more vulnerable and discovery-based approach. As he put it during our discussion:

We’re starting to just be really vulnerable about the idea that we don’t know, and we’re going to need to discover our way through it… Our expertise isn’t in knowing; our expertise is in learning and discovering.

In order to effectively practice vulnerability as a consultant who is brought in as an expert, you have to strike a delicate balance between demonstrating competence and embracing humility. This involves:

  • Acknowledging the limits of your expertise: Being upfront about areas where your knowledge may not be comprehensive or where you might need to seek additional information.
  • Framing your role as a collaborative partner rather than an omniscient authority: Emphasizing that your expertise is a tool to facilitate the client’s success, not a replacement for their own knowledge and experience.
  • Actively listening and showing genuine curiosity: Demonstrating that you value the client’s insights and perspectives, which may reveal crucial context-specific information.
  • Being transparent about your process and reasoning: Sharing not just your recommendations, but also your thought process, including any uncertainties or alternative approaches you’ve considered.
  • Admitting mistakes promptly and taking responsibility: If you make an error or your initial approach isn’t working, acknowledge it quickly and work openly to correct course.
  • Sharing relevant personal experiences, including past failures: Using your own journey of learning and growth to build rapport and illustrate the value of embracing vulnerability.

The key is to show that vulnerability enhances rather than diminishes your effectiveness as a consultant. By modeling openness and a growth mindset, you create an environment where clients feel safe to explore challenges honestly, leading to more innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Power of Story-Telling

Another aspect of our discussion that I found interesting was the idea of using storytelling and metaphors to make sense of complex situations. Ken shared how his childhood love for Star Wars action figures actually helped him develop this skill:

Using those action figures to actually create story and to train my brain about, uh, just to make up stuff has been such a benefit to me as an adult. That now I think in visuals and metaphors and stories.

This approach to sensemaking through storytelling isn’t just a neat trick – it’s a powerful tool for helping organizations navigate complexity. By creating narratives and visual metaphors, we can make abstract concepts more tangible and easier for people to grasp.

Science indicates that our brains become more active and more engaged when we hear or tell a narrative. Could it be that we are hardwired for a good yarn as a species? (More on the power of a good story here.)

The Agile Manifesto values “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” If you’ve had the pleasure of working on a high-performing team, you’ll know the power of the emotional ties, the social bonds, and the reciprocal trust that exists there.

And I bet you those connections developed from storytelling – around the water cooler, late nights over beers or in the #random channel on Slack. Chatting not so much about code, but about all the other things we humans bring with us. Our personal histories, our values, our motivations. The things that make you you, and me me.

Nudging Behavioral Change

Ken, Murm and I also talked about the challenges of implementing change in large organizations. Ken shared an example of how he was able to nudge a reduction in heroism and foster a culture of genuine collaboration in teams.  His experiment was to shift from traditional annual performance reviews to peer-based feedback systems, 

This, to me, illustrates two key essences of sensemaking. First, creating an environment that provides meaningful and specific feedback loops that encourage adaptation accordingly. And second, make the the energy cost of virtue to be less than that of sin. (H/T to Dave Snowden). Small, strategic shifts in organizational practices (many the result of org debt) can lead to significant cultural change that improves organizational performance, resilience as well as employee engagement and satisfaction.

Coming Soon: More Sensemaking For Organizational Change

As we wrapped up our conversation, Ken hinted at future books that would expand on the ideas in “The Six Big Ideas of Adaptive Organizations: From Frameworks to Sensemaking” I’m excited to see how these concepts continue to evolve and how they can help organizations become more resilient and adaptive in the face of complexity.

For those of you who are intrigued by these ideas, I highly recommend checking out not only the book, but both podcast episodes as well:

Ken and Jason’s insights on sensemaking, storytelling, and navigating organizational complexity are truly valuable for anyone involved in change management or leadership.

What Story Will You Tell?

These approaches to sensemaking in organizational change underscore a fundamental shift from rigid, pre-packaged solutions (frameworks) to more flexible, context-aware strategies. As change leaders, consultants, or managers, our role needs to evolve. We no longer should show up having all the answers, but instead, we need to facilitate discovery, learning, and adaptation.

As you reflect on these ideas, consider: How might embracing things like vulnerability, storytelling and behavioral nudges transform your approach to organizational challenges? What small changes could you implement in your team or organization?

The journey of organizational change is ongoing, and the most effective leaders are those who can navigate complexity with humility, creativity, and an open mind. As we look to the future, let’s challenge ourselves to be not just implementers of change, but facilitators of collective sensemaking.

What story will you tell to make sense of your next big challenge?

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