Coming across the term "sensemaking" in my Organizational Communication textbook, I cynically wondered why academics continually make up words to fit some sort of ideology. It seemed to me that "sensemaking" is the normal thing we do everyday in all situations and should not require some sort of term to describe normal events. Yet as I kept my sarcasm going in my head, I also decided to examine the usage more carefully. In all honesty, I was completely wrong in my suspicion, and my cynicism was totally without merit. Sensemaking is alive and well and is a worthy practice for all organizations and leaders.
The author of the textbook referenced a man named Karl Weick which then led me to read more about sensemaking. In its base form, sensemaking is the process of individuals in an organization incorporating all information about situations, events, emotions, or people and communicating that information in an open environment. It is also about avoiding assumptions, about team building, and about looking beyond the obvious, applying depth and meaning through organizational behavior. Sensemaking combines knowledge and information with human interaction and awareness of human needs, applying comprehensive meaning to the experience.
As I learned more about sensemaking, I realized the inherent value of the process and have decided to practice the theory at every opportunity. Reflecting on how to invoke sensemaking as a part of my leadership world, I began to read about examples of how using sensemaking can make a difference in organizations. Studying these situations brought me to the tragedy of the fire of 1949 at Mann Gulch Montana. Without going into detail, 13 brave firefighters lost their lives due to assumptions, poor information, poor organizational leadership, a lack of team building, and a lack of knowledge of science. Their decisions were based on intuition and self motivation rather than capturing all the information needed to survive. It is not insignificant that of the three people who survived, one used his knowledge of fires to make it work to his advantage, and the other two bonded together and used collective decision making to find a way out. While tragedy may have occurred in spite of utilizing sensemaking, it is likely more would have survived had they fully understood all the factors at play in the experience. Sadly, the event points to the need for organizations, leaders, and everyone to practice a high level of sensemaking in not only the dramatic events of our lives but also the day to day activities.
For anyone seeking to know more about sensemaking, there are several excellent articles on the subject that identify seven properties of sensemaking to apply in situations related to organizations or in leadership. But what does any of this have to do with folksongs? Learning more about the Mann Gulch tragedy and feeling engulfed in the powerful emotion of lives lost, I discovered a folk song about the event. Called the Mann Gulch Tribute, the song tells the story of the events of the fire and the people who fought bravely but lost to the power of nature (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLSbWhwTE0). It is sung with a folk type of accompaniment of guitar arpeggiated with varied and judicious uses of simple chords and appropriate harmony. The charm of the song is its simplicity that allows the story to come through in a balance of emotion and objective presentation.
Folk songs are cathartic expressions of honesty, allowing listeners to understand the pain without excessive sentimentality or unbridled musical anguish. Folk songs can be joyous, sad, bitter, satisfying, or simply narrative in presentation. They may or may not make a political statement and they may or may not teach a lesson in their texts. Mostly folk songs are music of the people, for the people, and by the people. As Louis Armstrong once quipped, "All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song." I recall my dad singing folksongs with his guitar and my mother harmonizing in the background. Those were good times and the memories have stayed with me forever.
I am not a luddite and I love our advanced world of technology with media at our fingertips, instant information whenever we want it, and communication of all types with anyone at anytime. But if I could move back time or bring something back to our culture or at least alter our lives in some sort of way, it would be to return to the idea of using folksongs to express the events of our lives. For some anachronistic joy, go to youtube (a wonderful new technology, by the way), and listen to some Peter, Paul, and Mary, or Bob Dylan, or Pete Seeger or perhaps some more modern fare such as John Denver, Paul Simon, Jim Croce, or Bruce Springsteen.
Or take a journey through the world by finding folksongs from various countries such as Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or France or Ukraine. Perhaps a few moments in the Far East to enjoy some music of the people or experience the worship practices of cultures from Africa. It is all grand and points to a world of authenticity of expression of the people. In a way and a bit of a stretch, folk music is the ideal way to understand organizational communication and the application of sensemaking. Folk music in its purest form attempts to give broad meaning to the joys and challenges of life by applying comprehensive knowledge blended with emotion and intuition. Maybe organizations and leadership could learn from the music of the people.
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