Sensesmaking

Folktale for Sensemaking

Sensemaking or sense-making is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences. It has been defined as "the ongoing retrospective development of plausible images that rationalize what people are doing" (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005, p. 409).

Sensemaking is participatory and involves contributors reviewing the stories they collected and discussing, prioritising and deriving conclusions based on their personal and contextual understanding of what it conveys. 

Digital storytelling can support participatory sensemaking activity by being a format for both the collation of viewpoints, and the summarisation and review for sensemaking activity. 

Example: Collective sensemaking is a key part of the Most Significant Change method: Sensemaking through story. With MSC, the process of story selection is just as important as story collection, and is where data validation and analysis occurs. Key stakeholders are brought together to review the range of stories collected and asked to decide which contains the most significant change that occurred as a result of the program/initiative. The ensuing conversations about why each stakeholder selected their particular story contain rich information about the program and delivers real insight into what stakeholders value.

With Folktale this sensemaking process can take place through the review of individual story contributions by the group of people who participated. Or, it can take place once those stories have been edited together into a summary video. At this point the summary video should be a consolidated narrative based off your story or reporting template and usually sparks some insightful conversation.