1357 | The Story Is the Only Map That Works

In this episode of Behavior Gap Radio, Carl unpacks the idea of sense-making—the way we build just enough coherence from past events to take the next step in uncertain environments. Through a story from his New York Times days and reflections on how we interpret unexpected outcomes, he explains that sense-making isn’t about accuracy or perfect explanations. It’s about crafting a plausible story that helps us move forward. Carl shares the questions he uses to check his own stories—What am I noticing? What am I ignoring? Does this story help me act or trap me?—and reminds us that in complex, adaptive systems, story isn’t a luxury. Story is navigation.

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