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Before interpreting any information, identify the relevant context. The same data, the same words, the same event will mean completely different things depending on where you are, who you are with, what you are trying to accomplish, and what just happened. If you do not ask "what context am I in?" before you interpret, you are letting your default context — the one your brain loaded automatically — do the interpreting for you. That default is often wrong.
Holding steady emotionally when the outcome is unknown.
Creating shared meaning about the organization's purpose and direction. Organizations do not operate on facts alone — they operate on interpretations. The same event (a competitor's product launch, a customer complaint, a revenue decline) means different things to different people depending on the interpretive framework they apply. Organizational meaning-making is the collective process of constructing shared interpretations — agreeing on what events mean, what they imply, and what response they warrant. In self-directing organizations, meaning-making is especially critical: without a manager to tell people what events mean, the organization must collectively construct meaning through shared sensemaking practices.