16: Sensemaking (Marlys Christianson)

By Marlys Christianson - Toronto

Prerecorded session

Live session

Soon

Required readings

Rerup, C., Gioia, D. A., & Corley, K. G. (2022). Identity transitions via subtle adaptive sensemaking: the empirical pursuit of the intangible. Academy of Management Discoveries, 8(4), 608-639.

Christianson, M. K. (2019). More and less effective updating: The role of trajectory management in making sense again. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1), 45-86.

Sandberg, J., & Tsoukas, H. (2015). Making sense of the sensemaking perspective: Its constituents, limitations, and opportunities for further development. Journal of organizational behavior, 36(S1), S6-S32.

Discussion questions

All of the readings grapple with the challenge of portraying how sensemaking unfolds over time, which is a key problem for sensemaking scholars. Sensemaking scholars often rely on interviews and observations to gain insight into sensemaking. Based on your knowledge of other processual research, what are some innovative forms of data or methodological approaches that sensemaking scholars could employ to shed light on how sensemaking takes place?