Cynefin
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[edit] The Framework
Cynefin (pronounced kun-ev'in) is the name of a decision making framework which has been used in knowledge management as well as other applications including conflict resolution. It has five domains, characterised by the relationship between cause and effect. The first four domains are: Simple in which the relationship between cause and effect is obvious to all, the approach is to Sense - Categorise - Respond and we can apply best practice. Complicated in which the relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge, the approach is to Sense - Analyze - Respond and we can apply good practice. Complex in which the relationship between cause and effect can only be perceived in retrospect, but not in advance, the approach is to Probe - Sense - Respond and we can sense emergent practice. Chaotic in which there is no relationship between cause and effect at systems level, the approach is to Act - Sense - Respond and we can discover novel practice. The fifth domain is Disorder, which is the state of not knowing what type of causality exists, in which state people will revert to the comfort zone in making a decision. In full use the Cynefin framework has sub-domains, and the boundary between simple and chaotic is seen as a catastrophic one: complacency leads to failure.
[edit] Origin of Cynefin
The Cynefin framework was originally developed by Dave Snowden who, after leaving IBM in July 2004 founded Cognitive Edge, an international network that focuses on the application of sensemaking to management and organisational practice and the creation of an open source movement for methods on management consultancy.
[edit] The Welsh Connection
The name ‘Cynefin’ is a Welsh word whose literal translation into English as habitat or place fails to do it justice. It is more properly understood as the place of our multiple belongings; the sense that we all, individually and collectively, have many roots: cultural, religious, geographic, tribal etc. We can never be fully aware of the nature of those belongings, but they profoundly influence what we are. The name seeks to remind us that all human interactions are strongly influenced and frequently determined by the patterns of our multiple experiences, both through the direct influence of personal experience and through collective experience expressed in various forms such as stories.
[edit] Use of the Framework
Various methods using the framework are published as part of an open source approach to consultancy method and can be downloaded (subject to a creative commons license) from Cognitive Edge.
Other than use by the original author the framework has been used in published articles to, among other things explain the role of religion in the Bush White House, the nature of response to bio-terrorism and aspects of measurement in the Health Service in the UK.
The Cynefin Framework and related Open Source Methods are in extensive use by a large and growing group of practitioners worldwide, BT, IBM, Oracle, Sola, Microsoft, Accenture, Cap Gemini, Anecdote and Absa being the best-known examples. Full list of names and contact information can be found on the Cynefin practitioners directory page.
[edit] References
- C. F. Kurtz and D. J. Snowden, 2003, "The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world", IBM Systems Journal, Volume 42, Number 3.
- Snowden, D (2000) "Cynefin: a sense of time and space, the social ecology of knowledge management", in Despres, C and Chauvel, D (Eds), Knowledge Horizons: The Present and the Promise of Knowledge Management, Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford
