The Difference Between Sense-making and Meaning-making The terms have distinct meanings

Sense-making and meaning-making are two terms that are often confused or used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings.

Sense-making

Sense-making is defined in many ways. Here is a definition by Gary Klein.

Sense-making is the ability or attempt to make sense of an ambiguous situation.

More exactly, sensemaking is the process of creating situational awareness and understanding in situations of high complexity or uncertainty in order to make decisions.

It is “a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively

Credit: Gary A. Klein

And here, a more straightforward definition from Dave Snowden.

Sense-making: How do we make sense of the world so we can act in it?

Credit: Dave Snowden

And, this is how I like to define sense-making.

Sense-making is the process by which we make sense of the world, especially complex situations for which there are usually no simple, apparent explanations.

Meaning-making

Meaning-making and sense-making are often used synonymously, but they are different. This is how I define meaning-making:

Meaning-making is the process by which we interpret situations or events in the light of our previous knowledge and experience.

It is a matter of identity: it is who we understand ourselves to be in relation to the world around us.

The Difference

In other words, sense-making is about making sense of the external world, while meaning-making is about relating it to our inner world. Asking the question: “What does this situation mean to me?”

Sense-making is, to the extent it ever can be, objective, while meaning-making is subjective. In reality, it is hard to separate the two, but there is value in making the distinction as best we can.

In general, when people talk about sense-making, they conflate the two.

So sense-making might be about making sense of what the government is doing and why they’re doing it, which is not always obvious, while meaning-making is about making sense of what it means to you personally or in your context – your society, organization, community or family.

A simple way of looking at it is as follows. If sense-making asks, “What is going on?”, meaning-making asks, “What are the implications of what’s going on for me (or my family or my organization)?”

Decision Making

Sense-making and meaning-making are important as they are essential prerequisites to making better decisions.

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