Here at ConsideringtheUniverse, we like to make sure we include practical advice or concrete examples to explain our ideas. We don’t want to get lost in lofty ideals, complicated theories or fantasy land (and we don’t want our readers to either). I have the tendency towards this much more than the ever practical/tactical Emily. I like to blame this penchant on my parents, who -despite being extremely interesting, creative, rather non- traditional and dare I say even almost perhaps maybe perfect (just like all parents of course!) — more than probably passed on this tendency to me.

Anyway all of this to say that this post shall attempt to give a brief outline of some of my father’s work on Sensemaking (especially now that it has become a bit more practical).

I also wish to add a disclaimer (or a bit of history): Since my youth– I have dreaded anyone asking my dad what he does. He never had some simple answer like, “I am a businessman” or “I am a teacher” or even the partially-true “I am a sign language interpreter” (his part time job and my insistent response -much to his chagrin- to the question). Instead, he always endeavored to provide the most truthful response to the question that he could– which invariably required what could be described as “a long-winded response.” His response usually evoked some eye rolling or audible groaning on my part. However now (in the infinite wisdom of my mid twenties) I shall in some small way attempt to rectify my sullen teenage reactions by telling the world about what my dad REALLY does.

Here’s the short version: He learned about, researched and studied Sensemaking (a type of communications theory). He created an interview methadology using Sensemaking framework. He then created a company that uses the interview methodology. He also is a sign language interpreter.

What is Sensemaking?

According to Gary Klein: 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”. That’s not so helpful. Wikipedia adds:

• Forming an awareness of key elements relevant to the situation. This entails knowing the who, what, when and where.

• Forming an understanding of what it all means in some bounded context, based upon past experiences, training, education and cognitive capabilities. This entails:
  • Forming hypotheses and making inferences, i.e. generalizations (predictions or anticipations) about future events.
  • Forming a sense of the implications for different courses of action.
• Making decisions by:
  • Generating alternative response actions to control the situation.
  • Identifying the objectives, constraints, and factors that influence the feasibility and desirability of each alternative.
  • Conducting an assessment of these alternatives.

Ok. So sensemaking is basically making sense of a situation.

What is the interview methodology and why is it awesome (or creepy)?

The interview methodology uses the conceptual framework of sensemaking– which just basically says that people are constantly consciously and unconsciously “making sense” of their environment (taking in input, organizing it, deciding on actions). The interview technique, using this framework, the elicits tacit knowledge, unconscious “sensemaking,” thought patterns, and/or “deep smarts” from its inteviewees. Basically the interview can reveal not only what is going on in your conscious mind but also some parts of your semiconscious and unconscious mind as well.

One guy who was interviewed using the techniques said, “They’re fantastic at coming up with what your experience was, then digging deeper to things you might not remember… Their process kind of unveils it all, like maybe discussing your dreams or something.”

I have been interviewed using the technique. It’s not something I particularly like doing with my dad- it works far too well and he learns way too much.

Sagis Corp - The Company and what they do.

So the company, Sagis Corp, was recently featured in the Star Tribune: here. Sagis Corp uses the interview technique, and their software, called SagisSense to preserve the experience and deep smarts of top level executives who are leaving or retiring.

Companies can use this deeper information to reduce training costs, minimize disruption from a departing employee, create repeatable and efficient processes, and improve sales success. The end result is that Sāgis can drastically increase your company’s performance by giving you the information needed to make better decisions. (Hmm, if that paragraph sounds markety, it’s cause I stole it from one of their marketing fliers).

From the Star Tribune: Frank Berdan spent more than three decades at a Fortune 500 company but after retirement had no way to pass on the knowledge he had gained to help train a successor…The depth of what Sagis was able to uncover about what Berdan did and why he did it was astonishing, Berdan said. “It’s a structured interview process, facilitated by some software that’s pretty clever,” Berdan said. “At the end of the process, the keys to my success were a lot more apparent. It was enlightening.”

Personally I am highly relieved my dad is using this technique on executives now and no longer on me. Can you imagine delving deeply into your unconscious thought processes every time you ate too many cookies and spoiled your dinner? Teehee, just kidding Dad.

So that’s the short answer to, “What does your dad do?”

What about my mom you wonder? Whole other ball of wax…