Organizational Sensemaking and Change Dynamics

Organizational sensemaking describes how individuals and groups interpret uncertain or novel situations to guide collective action. It unfolds through cycles of noticing cues, enacting environments, selecting interpretations and enacting further environments. Change dynamics in organizations are closely intertwined with sensemaking, as emerging interpretations shape strategic responses, power relations and resource allocations. Sensegiving complements sensemaking by actively crafting and communicating frames to influence others’ sensemaking processes. Language, narratives and dialogue act as vehicles for both sensemaking and sensegiving, embedding cognitive schemas and enabling shared understanding or contestation. These processes operate across multiple levels—from individual intuition and middle‐management negotiations to interorganizational crisis responses and emergent social collectives—driving adaptation, resilience and large‐scale transformation in diverse contexts.

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Organizational Sensemaking and Change Dynamics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in organizational sensemaking and change dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Sensemaking: The interpretive process by which individuals and groups create meaning from ambiguous or novel situations to guide action.

Sensegiving: The communicative effort to influence others’ interpretations and guide their sensemaking toward preferred frames or narratives.

Framing processes: Cognitive and conversational techniques used to highlight certain aspects of a situation, shape mental models and prioritise courses of action.

Cognitive frame: A structured set of beliefs and assumptions through which information is filtered, organised and interpreted in decision-making.

References

1. My colleagues (do not) think the same: Middle managers’ shared and separate realities in strategy implementation. Journal of Business Research (2023).
2. From strangers to social collectives? Sensemaking and organizing in response to a pandemic. European Management Journal (2023).
3. The Role of Language in Organizational Sensemaking: An Integrative Theoretical Framework and an Agenda for Future Research. Journal of Management (2023).