Weick's Sensemaking Theory

Overview

Sensemaking theory, developed by Karl Weick, explains how people structure the unknown by placing stimuli into frameworks that enable comprehension and action. It is fundamentally retrospective, social, and ongoing — people discover what they think by looking at what they have done.

When to Use

• Analyzing how organizations interpreted (or misinterpreted) ambiguous events
• Studying crisis response and organizational failure
• Understanding how identity shapes interpretation in volatile environments
• Diagnosing why early warning signals were missed or dismissed

When NOT to Use

• When the situation is routine and well-structured (sensemaking concerns the novel and ambiguous)
• When a rational decision-making model adequately explains behavior
• When the focus is on outcomes rather than interpretation processes