Researchers rarely encounter simple stories

Human behavior is wonderfully, inherently complex. Two people with identical demographics can hold opposing views, and people frequently act in direct contradiction to their stated beliefs.

Naturally, researchers want to simplify data to tell a clear, compelling story. But there is a trap: simplifying data is not the same as finding meaning. Over-simplification strips away the very nuance that matters most.

To truly analyse complex information, researchers need a sensemaking mindset.

What Is a Sensemaking Mindset?

Sensemaking is a dynamic, social process. It is how people experiment, talk through experiences, and continually adapt their thinking in real time.

Traditional market research often views consumer decisions in a vacuum. A sensemaking approach recognises that choices – especially about habits like eating, shopping, or lifestyle – are deeply tied to social circles (family, colleagues, friends). Because people belong to multiple, overlapping groups, their behaviour naturally involves trial, tension, and compromise.

Here is an example of a traditional lens vs a sensemaking lens:

• The Traditional Lens: A vegetarian who occasionally eats fish, or a retiree returning to work, looks like an anomaly or an outlier in the data.
• The Sensemaking Lens: That same person is an active learner – testing ideas, navigating social tensions, and finding what works for them right now.

How to adopt a sensemaking mindset

Shift Your Perspective: Become an Explorer, Not a Bookkeeper

Adopting a sensemaking mindset allows you to embrace messy data as a rich source of insight rather than an inconvenience. Clean, predictable data usually means you are walking over familiar ground where genuine discoveries are rare.

• Don’t make lists too quickly: Forcing qualitative responses into rigid codeframes kills nuance. Instead, look for underlying patterns -pay attention to how people speak, the context they bring, and what their language evokes.
• Take your time: Allow your mental models to emerge naturally. The quicker an answer comes, the more likely it is to be superficial.

Practical Steps for Sensemaking

1. Notice the unexpected: Pay attention to surprising words, contradictions, or subtle cues. They reveal whether you are dealing with a complex narrative or a simple story that requires no deep interpretation.
2. Identify patterns without forcing them: Let structure surface organically from the data itself.
3. Draw to think: Action aids cognition. Sketch a visual model of what you are seeing to clarify your thoughts. Redraw it, refine it, and tear it up if needed.
4. Talk it out: Complex data shouldn’t be analysed in isolation. Test your hypotheses through active conversations with teammates and peers.

“Sensemaking involves coming up with a plausible understanding — a map — of a shifting world; testing this map with others through data collection, action, and conversation; and then refining, or abandoning, the map depending on how credible it is.”

— Karl Weick

The Bottom Line

Human behaviour isn’t linear or static. By viewing people as active sensemakers – experimenting, changing their minds, and navigating complex social worlds – researchers can move past surface-level summaries to uncover genuine human insight.

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