Its worth reading just for the preface, which is delightfully welcoming for a volume of organizational theory. Organizing and the process of sensemaking article pdf available in organization science 164. Jerz problem solving and the gathering of diagnostic information john l. Karl weick, the father of sensemaking, suggests that the term means simply the making of sense weick, 1995, p. Weicks conception of collective sensemaking and organizing 1979. The rational model, however, ignores the inherent complexity and ambiguity of realworld organizations and their environments. Article pdf available in scandinavian journal of management 1. Pdf organizing and the process of sensemaking researchgate. The relationship among enactment, organizing, and sensemaking. Sensemaking and sensegiving deep blue university of michigan. Weick published in administrative science quarterly volume 38 1993. Utilizing grounded theory methods charmaz, 2006, some critical findings.
Sensemaking in crisis conditions is made more difficult because action that is instrumental to understanding the crisis often intensifies the crisis. I found weicks 1995 book sensemaking in organizations, which does not mention dervin. While organization studies has been one of the main outlets for research on sensemaking there. In this landmark volume, karl e weick highlights how. However, the rational model ignores the inherent complexity and ambiguity of realworld organizations and their environments. After making sense of sensemaking, which requires some mental acrobatics. Weick 1995 is generally considered the founding theorist on sensemaking. Weick the teaching of organization theory and the conduct of organizational research have been dominated by a focus on decisionmaking and the concept of strategic rationality. Sensemaking in organizations sage publications ltd.
Uncertainty, ambiguity, and crisis edit the sensemaking approach is often used to provide insight into factors that surface as organizations address either uncertain or ambiguous situations weick 1988, 1993. Weick 1979, 1995 presents a model of organizational sensemaking based on a conceptualization of organizations as loosely coupled systems in which individual participants have great latitude in interpreting and implementing directions. Sensemaking 3 thisexampleillustrates,thesensemakingprinciplesworktogetherthroughouttheprocess. Sensemaking available for download and read online in other formats. The process is seen as the creation of reality as an ongoing accomplishment that takes form when people make retrospective sense of the situations in which they find themselves.
That is, 24 articles of about 5000 that cite dervin 1992 andor weick 1995 cite both of them. Helps readers develop a thorough understanding of the sensemaking process essential for effective management. The social psychology of organizing was hugely influential in initiating new research programs in organization studies over the last fifty years anderson, 2006. It is the process of structuring the unknown waterman, 1990, p. For weick 1995, sensemaking is best described as a developing set of. He has written numerous books and articles, including sensemaking in organizations 1995, and the social psychology of organizing second edition 1980. Sensemaking lingers in organizational vocabulary long after our courses are over. Scott snook 2001 makes this clear in his analysis of a. Sensemaking involves labeling and categorizing to stabilize the streaming of experience weick et al. People cannot be separated from the environment they are part of, as these environments are themselves constructed during peoples sensemaking processes weick, 1995. Pdf sensemaking in organizations download full pdf book.
Collective sensemaking represents an arena for argumentation and therefore also an arena for political influence weick, 1995, pp. A crucial point of departure in studying sensemaking processes, is that organisation members spend a lotof time negotiatingamong themselvesan acceptableversion of what is goingon weick, 1979, p. Sensemaking, knowledge creation, and decision making. The teaching of organization theory and the conduct of organizational research have been dominated by a focus on decisionmaking and the concept of strategic rationality.
Making sense of sensemaking in organization studies. Although sensemaking in organization studies is associated primarily with the pioneering work of weick 1969, 1993, other key contributors to this literature include a range of scholars who have studied actors quotidian practices of meaningmaking e. Related but somewhat different sensemaking approaches have developed in fields outside of hci. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication of karl. In his initial conceptualization of sensemaking, he proposed seven general principles. It creates understanding through approximations weick. Pdf on mar 1, 1997, barbara czarniawska and others published sensemaking in organizations. Karl weick s new landmark volume, sensemaking in organizations, highlights how the sensemaking. Weick, 1995, which, put simply, is how people think sensemaking, and how people attempt to influence how others think sensegiving. This volume brings together the bestknown and most influential articles on sensemaking in organizations by one of its most distinguished exponents, karl weick.
On the one hand, sensemaking aims to provide clarity and meaning to obscure phenomena weick, 1969, 1979, 1995. He stresses the autonomy of individuals and the looseness of the relations linking indi. The paradox of sensemaking in organizational analysis. Sensemaking scholars are less interested in the intricacies of planning than in the details of action weick, 1995, p.
Karl weick 1995 geeft in zijn sensemaking in organizations een omschrijving van wat een. Sensemaking in organizations sage publications inc. I compared the two sets of citing articles and found they shared 24 articles. A proposed heuristic for a computer chess program john l. Weick is the rensis likert college professor of organizational behavior and psychology and professor of psychology at the university of michigan. In this landmark volume, karl e weick highlights how the sensemaking process shapes organizational structure and behaviour. In this landmark volume, karl e weick highlights how the sensemaking process shapes organizational. Pdf sensemaking involves turning circumstances into a situation that is comprehended explicitly. Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations1 weick 1988.
Sensemaking in organisations towards a conceptual framework. Buy sensemaking in organizations foundations for organizational science 1 by weick, karl e isbn. Brings together the best most influential articles written by one of the gurus of sensemaking karl weick. So what is sensemaking, and why is it so central to effective leadership. Organization studies 2015 and is available for download at.
There are perspectives on sensemaking in the macrocognition approach of psychology klein et al. Weick also extensively discusses where and how this making of sense happens. Mar 04, 2019 the third component refers to the making part of sensemaking and constitutes the enactment of sensible environments. Because identities incorporate some of the most central and enduring beliefs held by actors, they are often implicated in sensemaking processes. This said, dozens of papers on or related to sensemaking have appeared in organization studies, many in recent years, and our selection is doubtless and unashamedly to some extent idiosyncratic. But the book fails largely in linking this theory to practice. As weick argued, the basic idea of sensemaking is that reality is an ongoing accomplishment that emerges from. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Professor karl weick, school of business administration, university of michigan, ann arbor, michigan, 48109. Expertly written, sensemaking in organizations is the volume that students, scholars, and professors of organization and management studies must have. Weick advises novice sensemaking acolytes to expect some confusion. Sensemaking, which was introduced and popularized by karl weick in 1969, is a concept that is accompanied by great irony. Sensemaking in organizations foundations for organizational.
The teaching of organization theory and the conduct of organizational research have been dominated by a focus on decision making and the conception of strategic rationality. Sensemaking in organizations, by k e weick 1995 thousand oaks, ca. Reprinted from the collapse of sensemaking in organizations. Some of the topics weick thoroughly covers are the concept, uniqueness, historical roots, varieties and occasions, general properties, and the future of sensemaking research and practice. Sensemaking from weicks 1995 perspective encompasses a vast array of literatures and theoretical insights, and denotes a pragmatic approach to inquiry that. Major processsensitive developments that have focused on organizational culture, cognition, sensemaking, attention, resilience, high. Mar 24, 2015 sensemaking in organizations consists of a preface and eight chapters that set out the origins, principles, and applications of weicks sensemaking concepts.
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