Sensemaking is best described as:

• A. Sensemaking is the process of predicting outcomes based on data alone; culture and leadership have no role.
• B. Sensemaking is primarily about routine reporting and compliance with procedures.
• C. Sensemaking is about implementing standard policies without interpretation.
• D. Sensemaking is the process of interpreting and giving meaning to events; culture provides shared frames and stories, while leadership guides interpretation and meaning.

Answer: (D)

Sensemaking in organizations is about interpreting events and constructing meaning from what happens, especially when signals are ambiguous or unexpected. Culture provides the shared frames and stories that shape how people perceive and interpret those events, giving people common lenses and norms to draw on. Leadership guides how those interpretations unfold, influencing which meanings are emphasized, how disagreements are resolved, and what actions follow. Sensemaking is a collaborative, ongoing process where people discuss, reconcile different viewpoints, and create a coherent story to guide behavior. The other descriptions miss this interpretive, meaning-building aspect, reducing sensemaking to predicting data, routine reporting, or applying policies without considering how people interpret and assign meaning to what they observe.