Cynefin - Weaving Sense-Making Into the Fabric of Our World ED02

Cynefin is fractal. It is self-similar at multiple levels but can be understood simply or on further investigation in more complex ways, revealing more and more.

Cynefin says that there is nothing wrong with order, if you can achieve it. This is the principle of ‘bounded applicability,’ different things work or don’t work in different domains.

When we find ourselves in the in-between spaces, the liminal space, our task is to be mindful of suspending judgment, keeping our options open and enabling action that allows novelty to emerge and patterns to stabilize.

When we look at these two iterations side-by-side, the evolution of the Framework becomes clearer. When we are in any of the four domains of either Clear, Complicated, Complex or Chaotic, there are appropriate actions that can be taken. The Confused domain refers to a state of not knowing where to situate ourselves in the rest of Cynefin. It is, th

Introducing a state of Aporia, or deliberate puzzlement, allows us to present seemingly contradictory and competing understandings as valid and useful pieces of the bigger picture.” – Dave Snowden

Heuristics The term comes from Ancient Greek to mean “I discover.” Heuristics refer to strategies for problem solving that derive from learned patterns and previous experiences. Heuristics can also be referred to as “rules of thumb.” They are mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load making a decision.

Snowden, D.J, and M.E Boone. “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making” Harvard Business Review. 85.11 (2007) pp.69-76

1998). It differs from the Japanese concept of Ba, which is a “shared space for emerging relationships” (Nonaka & Konno 1998) in that it links a community into its shared history – or histories – in a way that paradoxically both limits the perception of that community while enabling an instinctive and intuitive ability to adapt to conditions of

Ontology, Ontological Related to the philosophical study of being (existence, reality, becoming and being). Or, the study of “what is.”