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Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)

Item

Title

Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)

Abstract/Description

When Karl Weick's seminal article, ‘Enacted Sensemaking in Crisis Situations’, was published in 1988, it caused the field to think very differently about how crises unfold in organizations, and how emergent crises might be more quickly curtailed. More than 20 years later, we offer insights inspired by the central ideas in that article. Beginning with an exploration of key sensemaking studies in the crisis and change literatures, we reflect on lessons learned about sensemaking in turbulent conditions since Weick (1988), and argue for two core themes that underlie sensemaking in such contexts: shared meanings and emotion. We examine when and how shared meanings and emotion are more and less likely to enable more helpful, or adaptive, sensemaking, and conclude with some suggestions for future research in the sensemaking field.

Date

Volume

47

Issue

3

Pages

551-580

Resource type

Background/Context

Medium

Print

Background/context type

Conceptual

IRE Approach/Concept

Open access/free-text available

Yes

Peer reviewed

Yes

ISSN

1467-6486

Citation

Maitlis, S., & Sonenshein, S. (2010). Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988). Journal of Management Studies, 47(3), 551–580. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00908.x

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