Sensemaking and the power of simplicity

A clear purpose such as Lego's can inspire others

In my last post, I referenced the work of Karl Weick into sensemaking.  A great insight from Weick is how, when it comes to sensemaking, simplicity can be very powerful. He noticed that people need plausibility rather than accuracy in order to believe in a cause. In our everyday lives, we need to filter noise to see clear understandable signals.  So as leaders it is helpful to recognise that simplification enables action.  And above all, a strong simple story energises action.

Lego is very clear about its purpose, which is to ‘inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow’. This encapsulates their role in both play and education and is part of why the Danish company has enjoyed such success all the way from simple plastic blocks to the widely-acclaimed Lego Movie. Lego aims to inspire and develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential. People can understand this. They get what Lego is all about, and they buy into it. Lego has successfully built on this purpose to the extent that in 2015 was rated as the world's most powerful brands by consultancy BrandFinance. It would appear that for Lego, everything really is awesome.

Why is Lego such a good example of sensemaking? Well, if we can provide plausible reasoning to fit the facts, we can energise others to act with greater understanding and commitment. This is typically more important than logical certainty.  A story that puts the facts as we know them into perspective with a plausible level of certainty is more likely to inspire people than a detailed business case. The simpler, the better.

Making sense

We are all making sense of what’s going around us all of the time.  Some of it is retrospective. As the American organisational theorist Karl Weick has said, sensemaking is, at least in part, grounded in what has already happened. People pay attention to things in the past to help make sense of the present, so as leaders it is helpful to recognise the importance of feeling that the past is important.  We can do this by demonstrating our respect for the history of our organisation, and by identifying how it helps to tell our collective story of our value and role in the world. 

We may need to over-simplify history to help the process, but that's okay if it helps our people feel comfortable with the present.  In one large bank I worked with, for example, we drew on the proud history of the founding fathers (and how they had taken personal risks in times of war to protect the money and records of their customers) in order to reconnect leaders with their underlying sense of purpose beyond making money.