This is a plain english overview of the Sensemaker software developed by Cognitive Edge, put together by Emerging Options Pty Ltd (http://www.emergingoptions.com.au). It is a leading edge product allowing organisations to make sense of their world in order to make decisions in a time of rapid and constant change. It makes the invisible voice visible.

1. Overview of SenseMakerTM*
January 2011
* Developed and owned by Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd – Emerging Options Ptd Ltd use SenseMakerTM under license

2. Some facts - Humans…
• can only see 0.01% of their visual range in sharp focus at any one
time
• will only ever seen approximately 5% of what is available
• see the world as a series of dots based previous experience
• make decisions by scanning thousands of fragmented patterns
stored in long term memory and applying the first pattern that
matches
• are pattern recognition intelligences NOT information
processing devices
Source: Theories of Visual Perception - Ian E. Gordon

3. Everything is Fragmented
• IF the world as a series of dots joined up on the basis of past
experience
• IF Humans are Pattern Recognition beings NOT Information
Processing machines......
How do we make sense of the world so we can act?
• Narrative and visual images are ways to convey complex
knowledge and ideas - a supplement to traditional ways of learning
and interpretation of our world
• Decision making occurs through the blending of fragmented
experiences gained through narrative and personal understanding
• Multiple fragments provide the basis for interpretation

4. Narrative
Capture

5. Elements of a SenseMakerTM Narrative Capture
Narrative Capture
Entry Point
Customised workflow for each
application
Prompting Questions
• Specific to each instrument
• Language tailored to target audience
• Designed to elicit a range of experiences
• Specific to each instrument
• Language tailored to target group
Experiences from
• Designed to elicit range of experiences
participants
• Specific to each experience
• Language tailored to target group
MCQ’s about experience
Filters about experience
Demographics
• Provide basis for tracking relative
• Specific to each experience
• Specific to each experience
nature of experiences over time
• Provides basis for tracking relative nature of • NotEstablishedto experience told
bars
• related as double negative slider
• Provides context for experience
• Provided only once per data entry session
• Lens through which patterns are recognised
experiences over time
• Can be either Triads or Polarities
General research questions
• Not related to experience told
• Exploration of related areas
• Optional

6. Prompting Questions: to elicit a response about the program
• Place people in a context they can understand
• Provoke people's memories by creating a context around extreme boundaries (moments of
pleasure and pain)
• Allow the question to be answered in the third person
• Do not privilege a certain type of experience over another (ie ask for either negative or positive
experiences)
• They pertain to the issue at hand without revealing the nature of the study or any hypotheses held
by the project team

7. Prompting Questions: Examples
Vocational Excellence
Think of a time when you found training really hard but chose to keep going. What happened?
Climate Change
Imagine you are in a lift (elevator) with 2 people who are discussing how people and institutions are reacting to
climate change. One person mentions that several obstacles constrain the extent to which people are able to
prepare for impacts and/or adapt. The other person says that he knows of a few examples in which people and
institutions are already responding. They turn to you and ask for your perspective on what makes preparation /
reaction possible or difficult. How would you respond?
Impact of Executive Education
You have been asked to outline what has happened in applying the learning from your program in your
workplace. What experience would you relate?
Future of Volunteering
A Local newspaper article stated in part….
“The government has announced an inquiry into the amount of additional funding that will be needed to deliver
services to the community that are currently provided by volunteers. The competition for people’s time, the differences
in attitudes to community service between the younger and older generations, and increased selfishness are regarded
as key to the level of funding required to the level of additional funding required to deliver services”.
How would you respond?

8. Narrative fragments: material captured in the field in its original
form
Australians wont act till it's too late.
Act now
I know very few people who are living an appropriate life for the 21st
century. Hopefully I am, or getting there.
It is imperative that all individuals, agencies and business organizations start to plan
for the impacts of climate change now. Credible international science indicates that
Lack of awareness of the scale and enormity of the issues engenders climate change is real and we now have benchmark data and preliminary modelling
apathy and complacency, which is reflected in the (lack of effective) to start planning for different scenarios. We need to examine the projected climate
political responses. For many people, there are strong cultural biases change impacts for each of our areas of interest and in the larger context and to
against the need to restructure the economy and an inability to see a start developing adaptation options to prevent, avoid and minimise detrimental
different future. They are in psychological denial.Vested interests impacts. We need to change our outlook and to recognise that the environment or
capitalise on this and the confusion of the complexity of the issue to the land and its systems is fundamental to all life on earth. We can no longer pursue
stir doubt. Others believe in action, but not action that affects them purely narrow economic interests on the assumption that if things become too
materially in any way. We are living in a fools paradise, and borrowing difficult or too dirty we can move on to a new frontier (Boulding, R.G. (1967) 'The
the future from our children.
coming spaceship earth'). Economic and social values are important but they need to
be considered in the context of the 'a priori' value of the environment in a
hierarchical approach. We need to think outside of the square and to change our
practices from reliance on organizational and professional standards and structures
that rely on past models which have actively contributed to the current situation.
We need to stop theorizing and start acting. We need to stop describing the
problem and to start developing best practice guidelines to assist in implementation
of adaptation measures. Above all we need political leadership and professional
courage to avoid foundering on short-term, political agendas and inaction based on
self-interest.
Our steps to climate adaptation.
Some individuals and businesses are already trying to do their
bit so to speak, which is a step in the right direction.

9. Signification – Multiple Choice:
The person who provides the experience decides what it means

10. Signification - Triads:
Assessing the relationship between three competing Interests

11. Signification - Polarities:
Opposing opposites to uncover layers of meaning
Absence of
Ideal State
Excess of

12. Making Sense
of Narrative

13. Triad Interpretation: How three competing themes relate
Work environment open to new initiatives:
Area of the business most impacted:
Encouraged use of
Team
new learnings
Risk
Too much else
Averse
going on
Me
Organisation
Difference to the business:
Process
Money
Clients

14. Context: derived from participant experiences
Work environment open to new initiatives:
Encouraged use of
new learnings
Risk
Too much else
Averse
going on
Managing Customer Relationships
One area I learnt in the course was around leading a project ethically. In the current project I am working on, I have taken over the role of Project Manager of
a project that has had up to 15 resources at different points in time. The majority of these (e.g. 80%) are company resources. The Project Lead (a customer
resource) who I report to has a very confronting management style and requested for the previous project manager to be replaced.
Much emphasis in my role briefing was on how to work with this Project Lead and to understand and meet her expectations. As weeks passed I have felt that
much of her behaviour did not seem reasonable. This was supported by a total of 3 resources leaving the project, 2 resigning from the company. I witnessed a
lot of pressure placed onto staff and behaviour that I felt didn't align to our values. This project is a secondment that will extend for 12 months. In addition I
felt that she was extraordinarily wasteful in the utilisation of our resources and we were not given the opportunity to provide enhanced value at every point.
It reached a point that I felt it was my responsibility to communicate to my senior manager and HR that our staff are being exposed to unreasonable behaviour
and requesting guidance on how to manage this. In addition I felt that the company had to protect our position and that we had to communicate someway
that the customer is not getting maximum value for the revenue we are earning. I am currently in the middle of this process. The examples within one of the
final sessions of the course (a while ago now and can't exactly remember) highlighted the importance of leading ethically. Hopefully my actions currently will
improve the working environment for our staff, allow us to provide enhanced value to the customer and ensure we are protecting our relationship with the
customer moving forward.

15. Impact Dashboard: Measurement of Impact over time

16. Polarities: Uncovering issues not readily visible
What interventions might be required to shift the mean back towards the Ideal
State of “participants having the ability to experiment in an environment where
it is safe to fail”?
Safe learning environment
Ideal State
Too scared to
Over protected
try anything new
Role management
Learning
Engaging with colleagues
Being often the leader on projects, I took less of a
variety of skills, approaches and thinking I would share my positive thoughts on the
leading role to help others. I was able to observe the
in the business - evident from working interaction with colleagues, the challenge
project management leadership and role definition
together in teams. Insight from watching in delivering an outcome in a short time
process and the impact of these in reaching an
colleagues present as a client - increased frame. Would also suggest that the
outcome. This was very educational to see from the
awareness of how a customer might see classroom learning and activity were
outside and the positive (consensus) attributes and
us when we pitch to them.
disconnected but it didn't undermine the
adverse impact of not having clear roles which I will
overall value of the course.
use in my role.

17. Relationships between Polarities
Leadership vs Dominant Attitude
As leadership becomes more unnecessarily interfering, people become more frustrated and powerless
Most Significant Barrier: Attitudes of Senior Management
All responses
Frustrated
powerless
Dominant Attitude
Going through
the motions
Unnecessarily
Non existent
Leadership
Interfering
When the focus is on Most Significant Barrier to progression being the Attitude of Senior Management, a
cluster of participants who go through the motions when leadership is non existent stands out

19. Overview of SenseMakerTM*
January 2011
* Developed and owned by Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd – Emerging Options Ptd Ltd use SenseMakerTM under license