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Nikolai Koval-Radley

Sense-making: How to Find Meaning in the Madness




We live in an era of unprecedented information overload. The sheer volume of data, endless distractions, misinformation, disinformation, and the rapid rise of AI, machine learning and big data have created a whirlwind of complexity for leaders. Leaders today aren’t just responsible for gathering data—they need to make sense of it all, quickly and accurately, to inform critical decisions that drive value creation. According to McKinsey, only 57% of leaders believe their organizations consistently make high-quality decisions, and less than half think they do so quickly enough.


In this environment, the mindset and behaviours of leaders are just as critical as the data itself. Leaders need to approach sense-making with adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. Successful sense-making isn’t just about collecting information; it’s about how leaders interpret, prioritize, and act on that information to create value.


Let’s explore the strategies for sense-making and the leadership needed to navigate through the noise.


1. Breadth and Diversity of Sources


To make sense of complexity, leaders must cast a wide net, gathering insights from a variety of sources. Curiosity and open-mindedness are essential behaviors here. Leaders need to be willing to look beyond traditional sources and embrace diverse viewpoints, whether they come from internal teams, customers, competitors, or external experts.


The best leaders are those who value cognitive diversity. For example, Airbnb's Exec expanded their data-gathering methods during the pandemic by observing local travel trends and societal shifts. This willingness to listen to unexpected data points allowed them to pivot quickly and succeed despite a challenging environment . Leaders who embody curiosity and humility create environments where unconventional ideas are welcomed, explored and monetised.


Ask yourself: Am I seeking input from a wide enough range of sources, or am I relying on familiar data points that support my existing views?


2. Depth and Quality of Information


Leaders must also be committed to rigorous analysis. Depth of information is crucial for making informed decisions, but it requires a mindset focused on critical thinking. Triangulation, peer review and expert consultation, data audits and quality control mechanisms are all helpful. Using AI or machine learning to detect anomalies helps too. Leaders who excel at sense-making also go beyond surface-level data and dive deep into the nuances of the information they collect. This means questioning the accuracy, relevance and context of data before making a decision.


Angela Merkel’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies this mindset. Merkel’s ability to assess deep scientific insights alongside public health and political concerns showcased a disciplined and thorough approach to sense-making.


Effective sense-makers are patient and willing to question the first layer of data. They adopt a skeptical mindset when needed, ensuring that decisions are grounded in reality rather than assumption.


Ask yourself: Am I diving deep enough into the data to ensure its relevance and quality, or am I rushing to conclusions?


3. Gathering Strategies: Combining Formal and Informal Methods


Great leaders combine formal and informal data collection methods, recognizing that some of the best insights come from unexpected places. A mixture of live experience, meetings and chats, retros and feedback loops are invaluable. But also using BI tools, multi source KPI dashboards, analytics packages, web scraping, news aggregators and scanning software can be used to increase the amount, type and speed of information.


When gathering data informally empathy plays a key role. Leaders like Bill Gates, who valued feedback from even the most dissatisfied customers, demonstrated how informal insights could drive product improvements and innovation beyond the hard data. Gathering informal feedback requires leaders to step outside their comfort zones, engage in real conversations, and create spaces where people feel safe to offer their honest opinions. Combine all this with the traditional methods.


Ask yourself: Am I actively seeking informal feedback and encouraging open dialogue, or am I relying solely on structured data to inform my decisions?


4. Speed and Automation: Making Decisions Faster


In today’s fast-paced environment, leaders need to be agile in decision-making, leveraging technology to assist in processing vast amounts of data. However, agility doesn’t mean rushing decisions. Leaders who are good at sense-making understand that discernment is key. The goal is to use tools like AI and machine learning to enhance decision-making without letting automation replace human judgment.


Companies like Zara exemplify this mindset. They have mastered the balance of using real-time data analytics to inform rapid decisions about product stock, while still incorporating human creativity and intuition to drive the brand’s success .


To do this well, leaders need to develop tech-savviness while also maintaining emotional intelligence. Automation is a tool, but it should never fully replace the nuanced judgment that only humans can provide.


Ask yourself: Am I using technology to accelerate decision-making, while ensuring that human insight remains central?


5. Sharing and Delegating Sense-Making


One of the key behaviours required for successful sense-making is the ability to delegate. Leaders who hoard decision-making responsibilities risk becoming bottlenecks. Instead, empowerment of teams to interpret data and make decisions fosters agility and builds trust across the organisation.


Google demonstrates how decentralising sense and decision-making can accelerate innovation. By empowering teams with the autonomy to make sense of data and implement ideas without waiting for approval from the top, Google maintains a dynamic culture of rapid innovation .


Effective leaders therefore trust their teams and embrace collective intelligence. They create a sense of psychological safety, where employees feel confident in their ability to contribute to decision-making.


Ask yourself: Am I delegating sense-making effectively, or am I holding onto control at the expense of agility and innovation?


6. Innovative and Unconventional Sense-Making Strategies


And there's more. To thrive in complexity, leaders need to develop a mindset of experimentation. Relying solely on conventional strategies often results in missed opportunities. Leaders who excel at sense-making are willing to try unconventional methods like narrative storytelling, day dreaming, indulging intuition, networking with masters of alien arts, speaking to futurists, or tapping into exotic new disciplines.


For example, Elon Musk has been known to draw from expertise outside of the traditional business world — such as physics and engineering — to inform his decision-making at companies like Tesla and SpaceX. This interdisciplinary approach allows Musk to see patterns others might miss and create solutions that are both innovative and effective.


The behaviours required here are boldness and creativity. Leaders who aren’t afraid to take risks and explore new approaches are often the ones who succeed in sense making in unpredictable environments.


Ask yourself: Am I willing to take risks and explore unconventional approaches to make sense of emerging challenges, or am I stuck in traditional thinking?


Turning Signals into Action


In the end, the mindset and behaviours that define successful sense-making are rooted in adaptability, curiosity, and an unrelenting focus on quality. Leaders must learn to balance speed with depth, automation with human judgment, and the wisdom of crowds with their own intuition. As Deloitte highlights, only 24% of business leaders feel “very ready” to leverage the full suite of sense making approaches, but those who do are far more likely to turn data into action and drive success.


How about you?


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