About
This course is for consultants and researchers who help address complex human challenges. Typically- Organizational Development consultants, Market researchers, Agile coaches, Sociologists, Anthropologists, Ethnographic researchers, and the occasional data-driven decision makers. Shared by these professionals is the need to help their clients make sense of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) situations that need to be made sense of and meaningful action to be taken.
This becomes especially problematic at scale--when the human system in view concerns dozens to tens or even hundreds of thousands of individuals. What is needed is a methodology that respects and leverages the natural human sensemaking processes while simultaneously providing actionable data at scale. The Spryng.io platform, with its Active Sensemaking tools, provides this robust methodology.
Intended for those new to Active Sensemaking and Spryng, the course will provide the knowledge and skills required to conduct Active Sensemaking initiatives using the Spryng.io platform. Upon completing the course, users can understand how to get started with an Active Sensemaking initiative--from design to deployment to analysis. With these skills, users can make sense of messy situations with Active Sensemaking.
What you will learn
A practical understanding of human sensemaking through stories
Active Sensemaking is built on the insight that we, as human beings, make sense of our lives and contexts through stories—we experience patterns and interpret them with ‘stories’. Active Sensemaking leverages this natural human sensemaking by allowing people to share and interpret their individual experiences.
Theory and practice needed to design Active Sensemaking instruments
Active Sensemaking involves creating a specific kind of inquiry instrument—a carefully designed questionnaire—that allows contributors to share relevant story/experiences and to provide the meaning of what they share through a unique set of interpretive questions. Spryng makes it possible to capture in the form of data how humans naturally make sense of life.
Theory and practice needed to analyze Active Sensemaking data
An Active Sensemaking inquiry yields a rich set of nuanced data that combines both qualitative data of the experiences and stories and quantitative data of interpretations provided by contributors. These data are kept connected and can be explored via the uniquely powerful but intuitive capabilities of the Spryng platform. Using Spryng’s data analysis tools, the two kinds of data can be cross-referenced and correlated, revealing patterns of meaning within the system being studied. Insight into these patterns provide levers of opportunity for shifting the system towards desired outcomes
Discover the critical importance of stories in making sense of difficult situations
Deepen your insights into participant meanings and their interpretations as key to understanding the patterns of their experiences. The participants are the expert interpreters of their own stories. In Active Sensemaking participant stories with their interpretations provide rich context and nuance, building a foundation for deep insights.
Encourage curiosity and learning in your organization
About complex systems and human limitations to perceive and understand them. Active Sensemaking and the platform are most useful to explore complex adaptive situations and systems. This will help you increase personal curiosity and humility to learn from people.
Learn to differentiate sensors and surveys
How to design the primary instrument, a Sensor, to collect people’s experiences as stories with the context and meaning intact. This is in contrast to surveys devoid of context and personal meaning from the participant and that too easily bias participant’s answers.
Learn to facilitate sensemaking in complexity
Ways to honor and help stakeholders describe important issues and concerns people carry in the situation. You will learn how to facilitate sessions with stakeholders. These insights from stakeholders frame the situation and the further design of a Sensor.
Explore patterns of meaning and construct safe to fail probes and next wise actions
How to approach and explore patterns stakeholders found in Analysis to draw out insights for action. How to run safe-to-fail experiments and other probes to learn how the situation responds to influences. This will lead to learning what patterns to amplify and what patterns to dampen. You will learn ongoing initiative strategies and options to address a variety of situations and issues.
Learn with Praxis. Active Sensemaking with Probe Accounts
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Approx. 30 hours to complete
Skills you will gain
- Active Sensemaking
- Designing Research Instruments
- Collecting necessary and sufficient data
- Data Analysis
- Pattern Spotting Facilitation
- Context and Data-driven decision making
- Live Dashboards
Structure:
- You lead yourself in all aspects of pacing and use of the materials.
- The course guides you through a sample initiative. You can replace that with a study situation of your own.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1 Orientation Module
Week 1 Module 1 - Active Sensemaking
This module introduces you to what humans do with their lived experiences, and three perspectives of Sensemaking.
Week 2 Module 2 - Overview of the Sensemaking Process
This module introduces the seven phases of conducting an Active Sensemaking initiative, and the Spryng.io Platform.
Week 3 Module 3 - Starting an Active Sensemaking Initiative
This modules focuses on how to start an initiative and invite your team, following Active Sensemaking on the Spryng.io Platform.
Week 4 Module 4 - The Discovery Phase
This module starts you on the path to creating a sensor questionnaire for an initiative. Learn how to use the canvas on the Spryng.io Platform.
Week 5 Module 5 - The Design Phase
In this module, all prior insights are integrated into a carefully crafted instrument of inquiry, a sensor questionnaire.
Week 6 Module 6 - The Testing Phase
This module introduces how to test the sensor questionnaires that were created in the Design phase.
Week 7 Module 7 - The Collection Phase
This module introduces how to share sensor questionnaires with the population-of-interest.
Week 8 Module 8 - The Analysis Phase
This module introduces how to analyze the data and stories from the population-of-interest responses.
Week 9 Module 9 - Next Wise Actions
This module introduces how to determine and take next wise actions, based on insights from analysis.
Endorsements
“Sprynging into Action is like a gourmet nine course meal where you get to experience
soup to yummy dessert.
Even better -- you are able to watch the skilled chefs perpare your Active Sensemaking meal, seeing all that is invloved. ”
Even better -- you are able to watch the skilled chefs perpare your Active Sensemaking meal, seeing all that is invloved. ”
Laurie Webster
“In the face of massive upheaval and uncertainties, wise leadership of our organizations and institutions has never been more critically important.
But the foundation of wise leadership is deep awareness and insight into context—a meaningful understanding of what’s going on.
Spryng offers a uniquely powerful methodology and effective tools that yield the awareness and insights needed to empower wise leadership decisions.
Complete with the ‘Sprynging into Action’ support resources, Spryng is ready to help you gain the information you need for your most challenging decisions. ”
But the foundation of wise leadership is deep awareness and insight into context—a meaningful understanding of what’s going on.
Spryng offers a uniquely powerful methodology and effective tools that yield the awareness and insights needed to empower wise leadership decisions.
Complete with the ‘Sprynging into Action’ support resources, Spryng is ready to help you gain the information you need for your most challenging decisions. ”
Barrett
Keith
Glenda
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Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to video and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course with the subscription, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to enroll in the course experience, during or after your audit.
What will I get if I purchase the Course?
When you purchase the course you get access to all course materials.