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

Cynefin is also part of a body of work looking at the dynamic interplay between deductive, inductive, and abductive sense-making.

How do we move forward with an acute awareness that the ground is shifting as we go?

You can better see now that the typical (and usually linear) problem-solving orientation that dominates many workshops and projects is not helpful in complex socio-technical systems. In ordered contexts, we are dealing with solvable problems; in complex ones, we are dealing with emergent and entangled patterns. Cynefin methods propel us to see and

“Designing rules assumes an ordered universe in which we can predict the outcome of a defined action and in which we can know the range of possible circumstances. Heuristics, on the other hand, provide more general guidance; they have a level of ambiguity which makes them more adaptable.

Being in an ambiguous liminal state can be disorienting and anxiety-provoking, yet it is also a place of emerging opportunity and many options. People often forget that Cynefin is a dynamic framework, and that the system states in Cynefin are dynamic and things move between them. The liminal zones between domains are transformational. Here we are

the complementarity between Complexity and Daoism (the Dao, or “the way”). In both, there is a focus on understanding things as they are. There is a need to dance a subtle sidestep - the dance between holding the space open to allow for emergence, whilst responding in a manner coherent to the issues at hand. Both Complexity and Daoism are

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.

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,