Making Sense of Sensemaking in High-Risk Organizations

Abstract

Safety in high-risk organizations is created by the everyday behavior of all employees in the organization – at all levels – as they go about getting their job done (Gregory & Shanahan, 2017). Sensemaking – the fundamental human quest for meaning – is the basis for human behavior, in formal organizations as well as life in general (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005). Sensemaking has been an influential perspective in 54organization studies and is strongly associated with the work of Karl Weick and his change of focus from decision-making and organizational outcomes to how individuals and organizations make sense of or give meaning to events and experiences (Weick, 1995). Sensemaking research has intensified over the last decades; however, it has been scattered over several different domains with differing approaches. In relation to the extensive literature on sensemaking, this chapter is a brief review of the sensemaking literature to establish an understanding of the concept, especially how it is understood in the context of sharp-end operators in high-risk organizations. Mainly, work on the bridge of a maritime vessel is used as an example to illustrate sensemaking in a high-risk environment.