1. Karl weick’s Sense-making Model Kayo Ichimura Tracy COMM303 Introduction to Organizational Communication
2. Weick’s opinion about the organization Organization could be… In complex and unpredictable environment The job of the organization Making sense of the environments How? Through interaction =“equivocal reduction”
3. Equivocal Situation The situation/ event happens Interpreted in different ways How to reduce the difference Weick’s approach There could be misunderstanding!
4. Weick’s model of organizing Enactment---creates environments Selection---collective sense making Retention---reinforces selections and options
5. Weick’s extension of the model Retrospective Sense Making Loose Coupling Partial Inclusion
6. Retrospective Sense Making They plan first Act according to their plan People think… Weick says… People act first Examine their action “Recipe” You don’t see till it’s done then then
7. Recipe:7 properties of sense making Identity construction Retrospection Enactment Socialization Continuation Extracted cues Plausibility
8. Loose Coupling Less connection between coworkers Less success Less connection Less relying More flexibility More success People think… Weick’s opinion is…
9. Partial Inclusion: balance between work and other activities Everyone is in multiple systems (e.g. workplace, home, church, and sports) Amount of commitment to workplace changes The employer consider about this!
Editor's Notes
In the incident of the NWSF, each committee had different views about its timeline , and people at the top did not realize the gap between them and other workers. This was the very beginning of its failure.
A recipe=How do I know what I think until I see I see what I say?Identity construction---define yourself. You should know who you are, and also recognize what is out here. 2) Retrospection---memory You look back what you said in the past for better understanding3) Enactment---activity of making sensed. Making rules creates new features of the environment4) Socialization You are recognized by who you socialized and how you so5) Continuation--- sense-making never starts or stops People are always in the middle of something. 6) Extracted cues People have purpose to outcome something, and to make it happen they need cues.7) Plausibility---reasonableness Sense-making is about accounts that socially acceptable and credible, not about accuracy.
This loose coupling did not work for NWSF since the aim was way too broad and workers and volunteers d id not know where to go. If it was more organized and clear abut is plan, this might have worked.
Participants had been putting so much efforts to make the NWSF successful in such a short time period. They tried to push back the date, but the organization did not listen. All participants have their own life besides this as a parent or a community leader, the organization can expect all workers and volunteers to put all of their time into preparing for this event. Eventually, a lot of people lost their motivation, and it was one of the reasons that the NWSF was cancelled.
