The way we make meaning of people, information, and the world around us shapes, guides, and even determines the decisions we are able to make and the decisions we do make. If you want to make different or better decisions, you have to work on how you're making meaning of the world around you.
The Complexity and Uncertainty Challenge
This is a good news, bad news situation. The world is only getting more complex, and the demand for leaders who are critical thinkers and can sit with complexity and uncertainty is only growing.
The bad news is, if you're not already comfortable with complexity and uncertainty, the way you make decisions and meaning right now probably isn't going to cut it.
The good news is that shifting into making new decisions and being able to sit with complexity and uncertainty has never been easier. We know the pivot point; the opportunity lies in changing how you make meaning.
Tools for Shifting Meaning Making
One of our best tools here is curiosity. When we find ourselves facing a situation that doesn't make sense to us but seems to make sense to someone else, we have the chance to say, "What might I be missing? What might they see that I'm not?" We can tap into resources by asking that person, team member, or colleague: "Hey, I'm having trouble figuring all this out. I'm trying to make better sense of what's going on with the team or the organization. Do you have some time when we could sit down? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it."
You don't have to do all this heavy lifting of shifting your meaning-making alone, but you do have to do the work. You have to grow your muscles to make meaning in new ways.
Another tool in your toolkit here is empathy and compassion. Empathy involves looking at the world from another perspective: “Can I sit with and be with the experience that you're having?” Compassion involves using empathy to expand your understanding of what that experience means for the other person; to feel the impact the experience is having on the other person or people.
The Power of Curiosity and Empathy
For example, if women and people of color are leaving your organization in higher-than-average numbers, especially with as challenging as the job market is for many, and it doesn't make sense why that's happening, this is a great opportunity to get curious and ask: “What's happening for those folks that makes them want to leave? What's their motivation? What's fueling this choice for them?” People have a logic to the decisions they make. Often, when we don't understand the decision, it's because we don't understand their logic or meaning-making.
Meaning-making is like building with LEGO. You can gather pieces from various places and start to build complex and beautiful structures of meaning. All you have to do is ask, be curious, and look at the places that don't quite make sense yet. If you can see it, but can't parse it, that's a good place to start.
In fact, feeling frustrated, confused, or intense conflict are all powerful signs of a place to slow down and get really curious.
Embrace the Journey
We won't make headway in the places we don't see at all, and the places we already understand don't do us much good. We need to move to the edge of our meaning-making to start flexing and growing those muscles of complexity. It's a difficult and awesome space to be in. You have a concrete place where you can focus on growing your awareness and meaning-making.
It's difficult because not understanding can be frustrating. But it's awesome because there's a clear path forward. You have a tangible thing to work on to grow how you're making meaning of information, people, and the world around you.
There is no wasted time in developing how you're making meaning because meaning-making is decision-making. The better you are at making meaning of the situations you're in, the better you'll be at making decisions about what to do next in those situations.
This shift in meaning making is part of what makes executive coaching and team development so powerful in fueling and enabling change and transformation; they help us build awareness and create shifts in how we see and make sense of our assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors.
Summary
This article discusses the importance of curiosity, empathy, and compassion in evolving meaning-making processes to improve decision-making outcomes, especially in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.
Dr. Kasch brings 15+ years of experience helping leaders and teams navigate transitions and conflict. To learn more about his approach and to work with him, please Contact Us.
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