In the report Future Work Skills 2020, the Institute For The Future nominated Sense Making as the number one skill required for the future.  They defined it as “the ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed.”

We are bombarded with information in almost all aspects of our lives.  In the era of “fake news”, misleading headlines and clickbait it becomes even more important to be able to make sense of what is relevant, reliable and resourceful.

Reliable – is the source reputable and has the information been referenced appropriately

Relevant – is information appropriate for where I’m using it or sharing it

Resourceful – does the information improve the situation

Then we need to help others make sense of it by providing connections and insights to enable informed decision making. 

Sometimes sense making is a simple as removing jargon and saying it how it is.

Maybe it’s being able to express the problem as a picture or model.  Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin says “Any business challenge – business strategy, resource allocation, project management, product developing, you name it – can be clarified, if not outright solved, through the use of a picture”.   

Or maybe it’s a matter of helping people make meaning through an analogy, story or metaphor.

I believe this is a real service in a world of ever increasing complexity.  Making sense of things for yourself, and helping others make sense of what is around them.

Your homework for sense making:

• Gabriele Dolan’s fantastic mission to create “Jargon Free Fridays”
• Lynne Cazaly’s book “Making Sense: A Handbook for the future of work”
• Dan Roams book “The Back of the Napkin”