Introduction
Summary of the book Sensemaking by Christian Madsbjerg. Before moving forward, let’s briefly explore the core idea of the book. Imagine holding a compass in one hand and a high-tech GPS device in the other. The GPS can give you quick directions, but the compass connects you to the Earth’s magnetic field, letting you understand your surroundings more naturally. This book’s concept of sensemaking is like that compass. While today’s world bombards us with digital numbers, automated predictions, and countless pie charts, sensemaking encourages us to pause and engage our human senses. It invites us to consider history, culture, language, values, and the subtle signals that define how we truly live. Rather than treating people as puzzles to be solved by algorithms, sensemaking values their stories, traditions, and beliefs. It transforms shallow statistics into deep insights. As you explore the chapters above, you’ll discover a human-centered framework that goes beyond plain data. Sensemaking is your bridge to a richer, more meaningful understanding of the world we share.
Chapter 1: Discovering How Human-Focused Sensemaking Transforms Our View Beyond Raw Data .
When we look around our world today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by numbers, graphs, and automated systems trying to explain every aspect of our lives. We see fancy charts, online algorithms, and massive databases claiming to predict what we need or who we are. At first glance, it seems like these digital tools have all the answers. But if we pause and reflect, we might sense something missing: the heart and soul behind human experiences. Sensemaking, a humanistic approach rooted in the study of culture, language, art, and people’s everyday lives, offers a way to understand the world that goes deeper than data-driven logic. Instead of looking only at mechanical patterns, sensemaking leads us into the rich terrain of stories, social traditions, and shared meanings. It suggests that our world is not simply about what can be measured, but also about what truly makes us human.
At its core, sensemaking differs from approaches that treat human beings as if we are just numbers on a spreadsheet. It challenges the belief that everything can be reduced to a neat line on a graph. By embracing a more humanities-centered way of thinking, sensemaking helps us appreciate the cultural backgrounds, traditions, and value systems that shape how we live, learn, and connect. While data can show how many people buy a certain product or how fast a trend spreads, sensemaking asks why these behaviors matter and what they mean to the people involved. If you imagine human life as a large, complex puzzle, data might give you the corner pieces, but sensemaking helps fill in the rich image formed by colors, textures, and intricate details that reveal a meaningful scene.
Sensemaking stands on five guiding principles that draw from the wisdom of the humanities. First, it recognizes that humans are deeply defined by their cultural setting, rather than just by their individual traits. Second, it relies on thick data, not just thin facts, meaning that it values the subtle stories, symbols, and shared understandings that bring depth to raw information. Third, it respects that real human behavior emerges from social circumstances, rather than from detached or isolated conditions. Fourth, it acknowledges that not all insights are born from strict logic; creativity, intuition, immersion, and keen observation are equally crucial. Finally, it reminds us that we cannot rely solely on algorithms or numbers to guide us; sometimes, we must look to history, art, tradition, and the stars in the night sky to truly navigate our world.
By placing culture and human experience at the center, sensemaking raises our awareness of the complex tapestry woven by people’s beliefs, traditions, and communal interactions. This approach encourages us to interpret data in its proper cultural context rather than obsessing over numeric patterns alone. Instead of seeing individuals as random data points, sensemaking views them as contributors to a larger cultural story, each influenced by how they were raised, what language they speak, what stories they’ve heard, and what struggles they’ve faced. As we advance into an era of supercomputers and machine learning, sensemaking provides a gentle reminder that life is not a formula; it is an unfolding drama where human perspective, sensitivity, and cultural richness guide us to deeper understanding.
Chapter 2: Unmasking Why Technology-Centered Solutions Struggle Without Deep Cultural Insight .
In recent decades, we’ve watched technology giants promise that their inventions will solve every imaginable problem. From sleek smartphones to voice assistants, from social platforms to predictive apps, the shining message is always the same: Trust us, our tools are all you need. This Silicon Valley dream often suggests that with enough data and digital power, we can predict human behavior and guide society forward. But when we examine these claims closely, we see cracks. High-tech solutions can fail when they ignore the subtle layers of culture and human experience. It’s like trying to capture the aroma of a delicious dish using only temperature and weight measurements. Without understanding cultural traditions, local customs, and the rhythms of real life, purely digital approaches stumble.
Consider the grand failures that occur when technology tries to replace human judgment entirely. Think about Google’s attempt to predict flu outbreaks by examining search terms. Although clever, it misread social cues and cultural habits. People searched for chicken soup or cough remedies not always because they had the flu, but sometimes because they were simply curious or influenced by seasonal ads. The algorithm’s predictions went off track, and the system did not deliver what was promised. This is just one example highlighting that human life is more complex than machine patterns. We are not easily pinned down by clicking behaviors or browsing histories alone.
Another central belief in tech-dominated thinking is the idea of disruption. Startups and major firms alike praise the notion that everything old must be broken so something new can rise. This approach tosses aside cultural continuity, generations of learning, and deeply rooted social values. By trying to disrupt without understanding the people they serve, companies risk building solutions that look great on paper but fall flat in reality. Real cultural contexts resist quick-fix formulas. A clever app designed in a sterile lab cannot instantly reshape centuries-old traditions, emotional bonds, or the trust and respect people have built over time.
Lastly, technology often tries to create a frictionless environment—giving us what it thinks we want before we ask, sorting our feeds so we see only familiar things, and sealing us in echo chambers. While this may seem convenient, it prevents us from experiencing the full richness of cultural life. Human beings grow by encountering different viewpoints, learning new customs, and discovering unexpected inspirations. Without that tension and variety, our understanding shrinks. As we lean too heavily on technology alone, we risk losing the sparks that come from cultural friction. Sensemaking encourages us to break free from this narrow corridor and embrace the colorful complexity that makes human life so vibrant.
Chapter 3: Understanding People Through Their Cultural Worlds for Real Business Impact .
When companies try to understand their customers, they often rely on basic surveys, charts, and demographic studies. They gather statistics on age, income, and geography, hoping that these surface-level details will tell them what people want. While these numbers have some value, they rarely capture the deeper cultural currents that influence buying decisions and brand loyalty. A more meaningful approach, guided by sensemaking, looks at customers as members of cultural groups, influenced by shared traditions, stories, and habits. Instead of focusing on a single point of data, sensemaking encourages businesses to dive deeper into customers’ worlds and recognize that every purchase is shaped by beliefs, preferences, and the broader cultural landscape.
An excellent illustration comes from Ford’s attempt to revive the Lincoln luxury car brand. Mere data showed that Lincoln’s market share was dropping and that their customers fit a certain age bracket. But this thin data didn’t reveal the emotional meanings these cars held for buyers. So Ford turned to sensemaking, engaging with customers and their social circles to understand how these vehicles fit into their lives. Was a luxury car just about horsepower and fancy dashboards, or was it a symbol of personal identity, comfort, and achievement? By conversing directly with owners, their families, and even their neighbors, Ford learned that luxury extended far beyond features. It was about feeling special, expressing oneself, and having a car that resonated with one’s values and self-image.
Armed with this rich understanding, Ford could redesign and market the Lincoln brand in a way that spoke to customers’ cultural and emotional realities. The company realized that every button, stitch, and engine component had to reflect the broader notion of luxury, not just flashy performance statistics. They understood that a luxury car should feel like a trusted companion, reflecting a person’s place in a social network and a cultural moment. Such insights cannot emerge from big spreadsheets alone. They come from attentive listening, cultural sensitivity, and a willingness to immerse oneself in the human stories behind the data points.
When businesses apply sensemaking, they learn to recognize that the why behind customers’ choices matters as much as the what. Instead of guessing what people desire based on thin measurements, they tune in to the rhythms of communities, noticing how people talk about products, what memories they associate with them, and how these goods fit into life’s meaningful occasions. This approach leads companies to offer solutions that fit people’s deeper aspirations, whether it’s a car that matches their sense of dignity or a product that aligns with cherished family traditions. By appreciating cultural context, businesses gain a powerful advantage, moving beyond surface-level marketing into the realm of true human connection.
Chapter 4: Embracing Thick Data to Reveal Meaning Beneath Mere Statistics .
Most of us are familiar with hard facts and simple statistics. Numbers tell us how many people did this or how often that happened. But these numbers, known as thin data, cannot always explain why people do what they do. Thick data, on the other hand, is about the stories, emotions, and cultural context hidden beneath those numbers. It allows us to understand the significance behind behaviors. Instead of just knowing that 80% of a neighborhood’s residents purchase a certain product, thick data helps us see that buying choice as part of a family tradition, a personal preference shaped by childhood memories, or an expression of cultural identity passed down through generations.
The investor George Soros famously made enormous profits because he understood thick data. While other financiers crunched numbers alone, Soros paid attention to subtle signals in newspapers, conversations, and social trends. He recognized that markets are not just mechanical systems; they are driven by human fears, hopes, and interpretations of events. By connecting with the cultural atmosphere, he saw when the British currency’s value might shift. His success was rooted in reading the human meaning behind financial moves, not just relying on raw data. Thick data is like having an inside map showing not only where people travel but also why they journey in certain directions.
To grasp thick data, we must understand that knowledge comes in many forms. Objective facts are one piece, like basic scientific truths that remain constant. Subjective knowledge includes personal feelings and opinions that vary from person to person. Shared or cultural knowledge involves the understandings and customs held by a group, like the meaning of a festival in a particular region. Sensory knowledge comes from intuition and the quiet signals we pick up without logical explanation. Sensemaking weaves all these forms together, recognizing that the world is a tapestry of data enriched by human interpretation, experience, and cultural texture.
By embracing thick data, we move closer to a full picture of why things happen. A product’s popularity might rest not just on its price or features, but on the stories that communities tell about it. A sudden economic shift might hinge on a nation’s cultural pride or its people’s anxieties about the future. By opening our eyes to thick data, we stop treating life like a cold algorithm and start seeing it as a complex, meaning-filled dance. Instead of just counting how many times something occurs, we learn to appreciate the human significance behind those events, revealing a richer reality that can guide smarter decisions, better policies, and more heartfelt connections.
Chapter 5: Using Phenomenology to Ground Business Strategies in Real-Life Contexts .
Phenomenology might sound like a complex philosophical term, but at its heart it is quite simple. It encourages us to describe the world as we experience it, not as we assume it should be. Rather than forcing events into neat theories or caging animals in a zoo for study, phenomenology suggests we step into the savanna of real life and observe creatures in their natural habitats. Applied to business, this means getting out of the conference room and into the marketplace, where actual customers shop, chat, and make choices. It means resisting the urge to trust only spreadsheets and, instead, watching how people interact with products, how they talk about them in the aisles, and what they do with them after they get home.
An example of phenomenology in action involved a European grocery chain struggling to stay competitive. Management had data about who bought what, when, and at what price. But these numbers alone did not help them understand why customers chose their stores or how they felt about the shopping experience. By adopting a phenomenological, sensemaking approach, the company’s researchers visited customers’ homes, talked to them about their cooking habits, and watched how they prepared meals. This firsthand observation revealed that what shoppers truly wanted was not just low prices or convenient locations, but inspiring ideas for dinner, fresh ingredients that told a story, and the feeling of bringing something meaningful into their kitchens.
Armed with this understanding, the grocery chain could rethink how it presented products, arranged its shelves, and communicated with customers. Instead of seeing shoppers as predictable variables, they saw them as people who connect with food emotionally and culturally. Such insights gave the company a genuine way to stand out. By tapping into real-life contexts, the business could craft strategies that resonated with customers’ deep desires—whether it was offering recipe suggestions, highlighting the cultural origins of certain ingredients, or creating a more inviting store environment that mirrored the warmth and care customers wanted to bring home.
Phenomenology teaches us that there is a difference between dissecting life from a distance and immersing ourselves in it. When companies choose to leave behind the artificial environments of closed-door meetings and step into their customers’ actual worlds, they discover truths that raw numbers cannot capture. This shift empowers them to develop products, services, and messages that align with the human stories unfolding in real time. By embracing phenomenology, businesses learn that true insight emerges when we discard preconceived notions, listen closely, observe carefully, and treat people not as data points, but as vibrant participants in the ongoing drama of everyday life.
Chapter 6: Cultivating True Creativity by Immersing Ourselves in Authentic Human Environments .
Many organizations dream of having endless creativity on tap. They try to design processes that guarantee brilliant ideas, as if creativity were a math problem with a simple formula. According to the popular concept called design thinking, you can follow fixed steps to produce amazing designs or innovative products. But real creativity doesn’t sprout from ticking boxes. It arises from authentic engagement with the world, from immersing ourselves in diverse human contexts, listening to people’s stories, understanding their struggles, and feeling their joys. Great ideas often come not from a laboratory of isolated minds, but from being open to the messy beauty of real life.
Think of Henry Ford, who developed the famous assembly line system for manufacturing cars. His breakthrough idea didn’t emerge from a scheduled brainstorming session. Instead, it popped into his mind after he observed how slaughterhouses processed pigs. By watching a completely different industry, he connected the dots and realized that cars could be built more efficiently if workers stayed still and the parts moved along. Similarly, many inventors, artists, and entrepreneurs found inspiration by stepping outside their comfort zones, paying attention to seemingly unrelated fields, and immersing themselves in cultural contexts they had never considered before.
True creativity thrives on empathy and sensitivity. It demands that we tune in to how people actually live and what they truly care about. If we start a design project knowing nothing about the culture, habits, or history of our intended audience, our ideas will remain shallow and disconnected. By immersing ourselves in the world of our customers, readers, or viewers, we pick up subtle cues about what matters to them. It might be the way a mother arranges her kitchen, a festival that lights up a city once a year, or a local tradition that people treasure. These details become the seeds of fresh, relevant ideas.
Organizations that rely solely on mechanical, step-by-step creativity methods miss the human spark. They might generate something clever but lack the warmth, meaning, and authenticity that truly resonate. Sensemaking champions a different approach: engage with real people, learn their stories, absorb the cultural aromas, and let these experiences unlock new perspectives. When we place ourselves in environments where people live, dream, and interact, creativity stops feeling forced. Instead, it emerges naturally, like a plant growing in fertile soil. This approach shows that if we want our innovations to matter, we must first open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the human world around us.
Chapter 7: Navigating Complex Cultural Landscapes to Shape Better Human Outcomes .
Imagine trying to find your way at sea by relying only on a blinking digital map. Technology makes navigation easier, but what if the system fails or misreads your environment? Skilled sailors know how to read the stars, feel the wind, and notice the shifting patterns of waves. Sensemaking encourages similar awareness when we try to solve human problems. Instead of trusting only in high-tech solutions, we learn to read the cultural skies. We interpret people’s actions, listen to their voices, understand their values, and use this understanding to guide us through uncertain situations.
Consider the remarkable case of FBI negotiator Chris Voss, who worked to free kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq in 2006. Instead of treating the captors’ demands as random threats, Voss and his team examined the cultural context. They noticed details like the fact that Carroll’s head was uncovered in a video, which signified a lack of respect within that specific cultural setting. By highlighting this detail in Iraqi media, they cleverly forced the kidnappers to acknowledge cultural norms. This cultural twist altered the kidnappers’ behavior, making them reconsider their approach and eventually release Carroll. Here, sensemaking allowed a security team to understand more than raw facts—it helped them read subtle cultural signals to shape a better outcome.
This ability to navigate cultural complexity is invaluable in all sorts of human endeavors. Just like a traveler who learns local customs to avoid misunderstandings, organizations and leaders benefit from reading cultural codes. A product launch in another country might flop if its marketing message contradicts local traditions. A policy designed for one cultural context might backfire in another where people have different beliefs. By using sensemaking as a navigation tool, we grow more skilled at creating solutions that fit each unique environment. We become cultural explorers who engage respectfully and discover ways to collaborate rather than confront.
Sensemaking reminds us that while technology and numbers provide helpful direction, the human factor is always present. If we fail to understand the cultural maps that guide people’s hearts and minds, we risk getting lost. By looking at the world through a cultural lens, we can solve problems that pure data analysis cannot touch. Whether we’re trying to negotiate peace, design a product, run a business, or better understand our neighbors, sensemaking gives us the compass we need. It shows us that navigating cultural landscapes skillfully leads to more humane, meaningful, and positive outcomes—outcomes that no algorithm, however advanced, could achieve alone.
All about the Book
Discover the power of sensemaking in ‘Sensemaking’ by Christian Madsbjerg. Unleash your potential to navigate complexity, enhance decision-making, and understand human behavior in an interconnected world. Perfect for leaders and innovators seeking clarity.
Christian Madsbjerg is a renowned thought leader in the fields of business, design, and social science, known for his insights into human-centered decision-making and sensemaking strategies.
Business Analysts, Marketing Professionals, Educators, UX Designers, Corporate Strategists
Reading Non-Fiction, Philosophical Discussions, Participating in Workshops, Studying Human Behavior, Exploring Cultural Narratives
Complex Decision-Making, Consumer Behavior Understanding, Organizational Change Management, Innovation and Creativity in Business
Knowledge is not power; it is the application of understanding that leads to action.
Simon Sinek, Daniel H. Pink, Malcolm Gladwell
Best Business Book of the Year, Design Management Institute Award, Axiom Business Book Award
1. How can you better understand complex human behaviors? #2. What role does context play in making sense? #3. How do stories influence our understanding of events? #4. Can we improve decision-making by seeking deeper insights? #5. What techniques aid in interpreting ambiguous situations? #6. How does empathy enhance our sensemaking abilities? #7. Why is questioning assumptions crucial for understanding? #8. How can diverse perspectives improve problem-solving? #9. What is the importance of narrative in communication? #10. How do emotional responses shape our interpretations? #11. What methods foster effective collaboration in teams? #12. How can we learn from failures in understanding? #13. In what ways does culture impact our perceptions? #14. What strategies help us navigate uncertainty effectively? #15. How can observations lead to richer insights? #16. Why is it vital to embrace complexity in thinking? #17. How does curiosity drive meaningful exploration of ideas? #18. What impact does environment have on sensemaking? #19. How can reflection improve our cognitive processes? #20. Why is it important to balance intuition and analysis?
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