Making Sense of Ourselves Sensemakers Club

In this episode, our hosts dive into a framework for collaborative problem-solving with peers, emphasizing the power of dialogue and understanding in building strong peer relationships.

Topics in thie episode:

🌟 The Power of Dialogue:

Abby and Alfi explore the significance of dialogue in peership and how it fosters understanding and connection, drawing inspiration from Mortimer Adler's concept of the "meeting of minds."

🔍 Recognizing Perceptual Blindness:

Alfi introduces the concept of perceptual blindness through Daniel Simons' "Invisible Gorilla" experiment, highlighting how our goals shape our perception and the importance of peer dialogue in uncovering blind spots.

🗣️ Three Conversation Flow:

A deep dive into the collaborative problem-solving framework used in their courses, consisting of three iterative conversations that promote goal setting, problem-solving, and reflection. Abby and Alfi share how this approach helped their students and themselves achieve meaningful progress.

📈 Personal Milestones:

Our hosts discuss the importance of setting and reassessing personal milestones, sharing stories from their students' experiences, including overcoming fears and embracing growth.

🧠 Principles of Effective Dialogue:

Abby and Alfi outline five core principles of effective dialogue:


Embrace Openness and Reciprocity
Seek to Understand Before Being Understood
Acknowledge and Navigate Emotional Reactions
Utilize Dialogue for Reflective and Constructive Feedback
Promote Inclusivity and Diversity of Thought

🤝 Personal Reflections on Peership:

Abby and Alfi reflect on their own experiences with peership, discussing how their different approaches and perspectives have enriched their collaboration and personal growth.

📣 Special Announcement:

The SenseMakers Club is now open for Founders membership! Starting in June, the club will feature daily discussion groups led by trained facilitators. A special event, the SenseMakers Salon, will be held on May 31st, offering a preview of the club's unique, cross-pollinating discussions.

💬 Final Thoughts:

Our hosts encourage listeners to engage in new or rekindled conversations, emphasizing the transformative power of dialogue. They also share personal updates on their own journeys of making sense of themselves.

Takeaways for Our Sensemakers:


The transformative power of effective dialogue in personal growth and peer relationships.
Practical insights into setting, pursuing, and reflecting on personal milestones.
Encouragement to engage with peers for mutual understanding and support.

As always, we appreciate your feedback and engagement. Please like, review, and subscribe to continue making sense of ourselves together.

Dive deep into the foundational concept that first united Abby and Alfi as co-educators: the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). In this episode, they explore what ZPD is, why it's central to making sense of yourself, and how to recognize if you're in your own ZPD.

Topics in this episode:

🌱 Understanding the Zone of Proximal Development: Alfi introduces the concept of ZPD, originally coined by Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky, and discusses its importance in educational settings.

🛠️ Three Signs You're in Your ZPD: Abby and Alfi share personal stories and student anecdotes that illustrate the key indicators of working within your ZPD.

🎤 Guest Clips: Listen to clips from Sensemaker Club members who share their experiences of discovering their ZPD

🧑‍🏫 Practical Tips for Engaging with Your ZPD: Abby and Alfi provide actionable advice for listeners who want to identify and leverage their ZPD for personal growth.

🔍 Milestone Moments: Our hosts reflect on significant milestones in their journey of making sense of themselves and encourage listeners to consider their own.

🔄 Preview of Next Episode: Teaser for the upcoming discussion on collaborative problem-solving and the power of peership

Takeaways for Our Sensemakers:


Key insights into how recognizing and embracing your ZPD can dramatically enhance your learning and growth.
Encouragement to engage with more knowledgeable others and recognize when you are in a state of flow.
Practical steps to start exploring your own ZPD.

As always, we appreciate your feedback and engagement. Please like, review, and subscribe to continue making sense of ourselves together.

In their first episode our hosts find their footing and reflect on their peership and friendship.



Topics on this episode:

🤝 Alfi and Abby talk about their peership origin story, and look back on where they both were at the start of 2023 when they started working together at the Sensemakers Club.

🧑‍🏫 A discussion of the core concepts of the 12 week course ‘Making Sense of Yourself’ and reflect on what they learned having just finished teaching this content for the first time.

⚖️ How Alfi and Abby are similar, and the ways they are quite different.

🌪️ Personal updates on “how made sense of” each of our hosts feel

🎁 Advice for other seekers making sense of themselves.