The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster
This is a revised version of the KatzNewcomb lecture presented at the University of Michigan, April 23 24, 1993. The 1993 lecture celebrated the life of Rensis Likert, the founding director of the Institute for Social Relations. All three people honored at the lecture Dan Katz, Ted Newcomb, and Ren Likert were born in 1903, which meant this lecture also celebrated their 90th birthdays. I am grateful to Lance Sandelands, Debra Meyerson, Robert Sutton, Doug Cowherd, and Karen Weick for their help in revising early drafts of this material. I also want to thank John Van Maanen, J. Richard Hackman, Linda Pike, and the anonymous ASQ reviewers for their he lp with later drafts.