Who Are Your Sensemakers?

Grab your coffee, and settle in. Let's talk sensemaking.

A significant part of my day is spent trying to figure out what's real. I do this for myself and also for the people around me—my family, friends, and even some business associates. When I was younger, I assumed that as an adult, I’d have all the answers. Now, fully grown and maybe a bit wiser, I realize I still struggle with sensemaking just as much, if not more.

Today, our primary challenge isn't accessing information—it's making sense of it. I used to say we live in a knowledge abundance world. I need to modify it to say there is a lot of knowledge out there, you just have to know how to find it. We're inundated with endless streams of social media, rapidly cycling news, and constant digital noise.

I can't figure it all out by myself.

Who are your Sensemakers?

Growing up, my big sources of information were my parents, my school textbooks, the newspapers we had delivered every day, the news at 7pm and 10pm, and my trusty set of World Book encyclopedias. By contrast, my GenZ kids get a large portion of their information from social media (Instagram, TikTok), Wikipedia, and Youtube. And their parents. I hope.

Traditionally, we relied on trusted individuals or institutions to help us navigate complexity. But in our information-abundant, opinion-rich, and increasingly AI-driven world, these traditional sources have either become diluted or outright ineffective. This void calls us all to become sensemakers, for ourselves and for others.

Personal Sensemaking

On a personal level, sensemaking isn't just vetting information—it's also sharing your understanding. In my TED talk, I referred to this as the skill of "curation" -- adding a piece of your unique understanding back into the collective pool of knowledge. Each of us holds specialized knowledge or experience that can provide guidance for others. You might not be an overall expert, but within your niche, you can significantly reduce cognitive load for others.

Social media, however, makes it deceptively easy for people to appear authoritative without actually being an authority. Overnight experts spring up around hot-button topics like finance, pandemics, or technology. How do you differentiate genuine insight from noise?

Here are three critical skills for effective personal sensemaking:

• Critical Thinking: You need to be able to vet. The ability to quickly process information and discern its reliability.

• Contextual Synthesis: Beyond sharing information, true sensemakers add context. As I often say, “To share is human, to give context divine.” Context transforms noise into meaningful signals.

• Strategic Storytelling: Clearly articulate your insights. Your stories don’t necessarily have to persuade, but they must clarify and illuminate.

Business Sensemaking

In business, becoming a sensemaker goes beyond traditional thought leadership. Thought leaders often project an air of complete knowledge. Sensemakers, on the other hand, openly navigate complexity by curating knowledge, perspectives, and experiences—not just their own but those of trusted guides and peers. They act as navigational aids through the fog of ambiguity.

Effective sensemakers actively curate, interpret, and provide meaningful frameworks for understanding, significantly reducing decision-making fatigue for their audiences. This helps build trust and positions you and/or your brand as a reliable guide in a complex landscape.

Practical approaches include:

• Thought Leadership: Offering strategic insights beyond mere product information.

• Case Studies and Proof Points: Demonstrating your ability to reliably solve significant, relevant problems.

• Data and Analytics: Providing credible, transparent data that supports your narrative and builds trust in your offerings.

Sensemaking today isn't just an advantage; it's essential. Your role, whether individually or as a business, is to help others navigate complexity with clear, insightful, and actionable narratives. It helps build trust.

Technology is an agent of disintermediation. It removes the steps between the creator and the consumer. This is not just about AI. It's the history of technology

If your job consisted of being an intermediary, you were always at risk. That's still true today. If I were going to give advice to a recent college graduate, I'd say find a way to be as close to the creative side of the business as you can.

I'm a little self-indulgent this week. My daughter Olivia wrote a musical, "buried", that won an Emerging Writers Residency at Circle In The Square Theatre School in NYC. The show is based on the last days of Pompeii and what it would be like if it was your last day on earth. This week they did a livestream with an interview with her and then the students performed some of her songs (with Olivia on guitar). They do an excerpt from the play first. Olivia comes in around 32 minutes.

I'd love to hear your experiences or your challenges with sensemaking. How are you navigating complexity? Drop me a note—I always appreciate your stories.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation...

Alan