Psychology

Recent studies show that the collective rather than the individual is the primary source of intricate meanings in the organizations. The collective becomes the existential focus of differential choices. Indeed, it is often the collective which denotes the conventional idea of sensemaking. The individual becomes an obscure entity of focus. It is the individual which destroys the efficacy of reality it is the engine in which overriding forces like rationality and irrationality converge. Indeed, the individual becomes a theoretical source of pragmatism.

Now, the cutting of the climbing rope that connected two individuals symbolized three essential things. First, it indicates a pragmatic breakdown of the shared symbolisms and goals. Second, it indicates the fragile nature of relationships, as they pertain to roles and goals. And lastly, the rope cannot be destroyed in the categorical sense of the word because it is an intricate part of a larger system. Now suppose the rope is cut, how will individuals make sense of the world

The answer lies in the idea of sensemaking itself. Sensemaking as an ordinary and ongoing process is rooted in identity construction. The cutting of the rope was a crisis associated with identity construction. Through the rope, each climber was responsible for the other, and in turn reliant upon the other for their own safety. If members of a rope team are responsible for each other, but one is forced to cut the rope, the resulting identity construction is potentially confused. Sensemaking, therefore, also becomes confused. However, this is momentarily because the individual is and will always be able to make sense of the world, as though heshe is part and parcel of a growing environment. Meanings, symbolisms, and languages serve to direct the individual into other meaningful experiences, experiences which creates the idea of sensemaking.