Gitcoin Grants 24: Strategic Sense Making Framework

[maets23]

@MathildaDV

Sensemaking: Identifying high-impact problem areas through rigorous analysis and validating them through fundraising potential and visibility tests

@owocki

Why Sensemaking Matters More in Complex Environments

Traditional analytical approaches fail in complex environments because they assume predictability and linear relationships. You can’t analyze your way to understanding emergence or non-linear effects.

Sensemaking works because it assumes uncertainty and focuses on pattern recognition rather than prediction. Instead of trying to forecast the future, you try to understand current dynamics and adapt accordingly.

I am very worried. The Gitcoin Grants 24 framework, is counter to collective sensemaking as described by @owocki .

These quotes illustrate this. The Gitcoin Grants 24 is a traditional analytical approach that @ococki says “will fail because they assume predictability and linear relationships.”

I Think a new Gitcoin grants 24 framework should be developed that uses the methods described in the "Mastering Sensemaking…discussion.

Here is a possible workflow.

1. Collecting Diverse Information that answers the question: “What are ethereum’s biggest problems?”
   a. Identify a representative group from the community (Sortition), say 200 members.
   b. Ask each selected member to write paragraph long descriptions of 3 problems based on their point of view in the ethereum eco-system. (Survey or AI facilitator)

Now we would have 600 problems that are from diverse sources.

@owocki

Sensemaking assumes you need to first figure out what the problem actually is - or whether there even is a problem.

2. Based on the 600 ideas, use an algorithm to identify the highest priority problems based on a consensus point. Also determine duplicates or quasi-duplicates. This will “first figure out what the problem actually is - or whether there even is a problem.”

At the end of this process we would identify the top problems (and authors) that gitcoin should focus on,

3. then…following the Karl Weick advise run this process as a retrospective every 3 or 6 months.

@owocki

Karl Weick, one of the pioneering researchers in this field, described it as “the ongoing retrospective development of plausible images that rationalize what people are doing.”