ABSTRACT

There are many who say that strategic work is all about execution. For The Third Lens the way we make sense of our world is the vital activity. Perhaps arguing that sense-making is more important than decision-making, is provocative, but stating that in today’s strategic landscapes the most significant decisions involve sensemaking rather than decision-making requires some explanation. We may consider that sense-making precedes decision-making because before we make decisions, we have to make sense of a situation, or that sense-making and decision-making are inseparable, as decision-making is inherent in every sense-making activity. Either way, decision-making begins much earlier than we often comprehend. It starts when we make assumptions and definitions about the future, identify current and emergent events and trends, or create causal relationships between certain people and events. However, if we fail to achieve sense-making that gives a broad and comprehensive understanding of a situation, very little can be achieved even if the foresight derived is brilliantly executed.