Adapt, Ascend, Lead: Sensemaking in Uncertain Terrain
In a job market obsessed with traditional resumes and stuck in the patterns of old interview styles, I'm a large proponent of exploring the transferable skills that somebody might have from the real-life experiences where they might have chosen to live a little rather than fly the desk.
There's something significant about choosing to take stints away from the 9 to 5 to go live your life and "dirtbag" a little rather than following the prescribed journey. Or perhaps not even walking away but using your vacation to take on some other real-world experiences (my most recent was an avalanche training course). It often means you make a lot of mistakes, and sometimes you have to learn the hard way. But these lessons are invaluable. They equip you with leadership skills and help you guide others, saving them from the troubles you had to navigate. Your lessons are transferable, they are valuable.
Sensemaking: Turning Life's Lessons into Leadership Gold
This is why I chose sensemaking to be a topic to explore. Sensemaking, in its simplest form, is how you practice using the lessons you've learned to apply to your current circumstances, flex with ease to the new inputs, and make quick and effective decisions without decision paralysis.
Your Real-World Classroom: Unpacking Transferable Skills
If you've never thought about how your skills from the field transfer to an office setting, it's certainly worth some introspection. For instance, recall that stressful moment on the hill where your climbing partner got a little panicky after taking a significant, but not debilitating, fall. They needed to hike out, and quickly.
How did you calm them down? What immediate steps did you take to navigate their safe exit? And perhaps most importantly, what was the state of your relationship with that person afterward? This demanding situation was a powerful reflection on both your communication skills and your emotional intelligence in a high-stakes scenario.
Now, reflect on how these critical skills transpose to the workplace using the sensemaking model. That experience on the mountain doesn't just stay on the mountain. It fundamentally forms your identity, providing you with invaluable information to reflect upon in new scenarios, especially when working amongst teams and navigating complex dynamics. It's the raw data you feed into your sensemaking engine.
Deeper Dive into Sensemaking
I don't want to repeat the entire explanation of sensemaking again since I did a fairly thorough analysis and anecdote comparison in my post here: Sensemaking: A Leadership Map for Uncertain Terrain. I recommend checking it out for additional context.
Visualizing the Journey: Sensemaking to Summit
This infographic, below, I designed to show you how your lessons along the path lead to every summit success.
Key Takeaways from the Infographic:
Identity Construction: Know who you are before you climb - your identity shapes every decision.
Retrospective: You don't always see the right move until it's behind you. Reflect to learn on the way.
Social: Trust your climbing team. Collective insight beats solo guesswork.
Enactive of the Environment: Your steps change the route. How you move shapes what comes next.
Ongoing: The mountain and the work don't pause. Stay alert, stay adaptive.
Focus on Extracted Cues: Read the snowpack. Watch the wind. Read the signs and follow what matters.
Plausibility Over Accuracy: You don't need perfect data. You need a good enough plan to act.
These principles aren't just theoretical; they are honed through real-world application. The more diverse "lived experiences" you embrace, the more confidence you build in your ability to navigate complex decision-making and problem-solving. Learning how you personally respond in crisis or under stress is paramount; it teaches you to maneuver effectively without letting overwhelm dictate your actions.
This personal insight extends to leading your team back in the office. By understanding these dynamics, you learn how to guide your colleagues through similar challenges, empowering everyone to adapt and collaborate effectively to "summit" whatever organizational challenge or change you're facing.
From Climb to Clarity
In a world that increasingly demands agility and foresight, traditional career paths often overlook the profound lessons forged outside the office. These hard-won experiences, gained through unconventional journeys and real-world challenges, cultivate invaluable transferable skills like emotional intelligence, communication, and adaptability. These aren't just personal strengths; they are the bedrock of effective leadership.
Sensemaking provides the framework to leverage these experiences. By continuously reflecting on your journey, trusting your team, adapting to evolving environments, and prioritizing plausible action over perfect data, you empower yourself and those around you to navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence. It's about bringing your whole, experienced self to the table, using every lesson to build a stronger, more resilient approach to challenges. Start consciously applying the principles of sensemaking, and you'll not only enhance your own leadership journey but also inspire your team to climb higher, together.
So, as you consider your next professional step or face an organizational pivot, look beyond the conventional resume. What real-world "summits" have you conquered? How have those experiences shaped your identity and your approach to problem-solving?
