Collectively making sense of business situations and issues “I woke to find myself in a dark wood. The right road was wholly lost and gone”. Dante, Alighieri 1
Times have changed……and they haven’t changed
Not so long ago, it seemed to be easier to conduct business. But with the wide and deep changes that have come about in society, technology, economies, and supply chains, has also come more frenetic activity, more uncertainty. In many ways we’ve moved beyond the orderly, rational, predictable cause and effect world that we once knew. It seems that we face complexity and chaos at every turn. It’s hard sometimes to make sense of what is happening. We may struggle to fit all of this cosily into our cognitive frameworks.
But this is not new. “The forces of order and chaos danced with each other throughout ancient times” as Kurtz & Snowden point out in explaining the eloquent, unique and very useful Cynefin framework for approaching many business challenges. 2
of various states that exist at different times (or simultaneously), with multiple movements between these states.
And we too as humans, are simple, complicated, complex and chaotic beings, individually as well as collectively (conscious and unconscious) – in our perceptions, intents, behaviours – with our brains being complex adaptive systems.
The framework allows us to collectively make sense of things by seeing things differently: situations, problems, conflicts, events, contexts, to adapt accordingly. Most times, elements of a situation will reside in more than one of the sense-making states or domains.
The Cynefyn framework
The purpose of the framework is to make sense of situations. It is not intended as a categorisation or as an analytical device. (By the way, before proceeding, it’s a good idea to try and free your mind of your currently-held meanings and associations with the words simple, complicated, complexity, chaos, disorder).
The states encompassed by the framework are:
Simple In these cases, deductive and inductive logic applies. We know causes and effects. We can follow the ‘recipe’ to reach a desired outcome, a solution. We can sense, categorise, and respond. Move from ‘what’s gone wrong or deviated from the norm’ to ‘fix’ very quickly.
The framework takes account
Complicated Complicated problems, like sending a rocket to the moon, are different. There are more connections, causes and effects at play, but these are knowable. Rational, expert, systems thinking is required. There is order. The indicated approach is to sense, analyse, and then respond in the light of gained knowledge.
Complex In this state, or domain, numerous agents, relationships, causes and effects are at play. Some are visible. Some are hidden. We are out of our comfort zones. Many perspectives are required in order to detect emerging patterns. A logic can sometimes be pieced together post- event.
“Wilson Bentley of Jericho, Vermont devoted his whole life to the work of photographing snowflakes. He took 6000 photographs.” 3
Snowflakes are hexagonal and flat, but no
two are alike. They (self-organise) and emerge as a result of the interaction of water particles as they freeze. An economy can also be viewed as a self-organising, complex adaptive system. When nuclei collide there is a nuclear reaction, which triggers another, leading to a continuing, exponential number of reactions. It’s much, much more than simply a linear snowball or domino effect. We need to improve our awareness and adaptability.
Otto Scharmer’s Theory U is one approach that enables individuals to share the handling of complexity in business - in essence the development together of mindful observation, listening and understanding - and then progressing into imaginative innovation with respect to engaging with an emerging future, via proto-typing. The approach is to probe, sense, and respond. 4
Mindfulness
and imagination are two attributes triggered by story. (The focus of the Cynefin framework is more on managing system constraints, not so much about individual change).
Chaotic Here relationships, agents, reactions, causes and effects are not detectable, if not absent. There is no discernible order, nor patterns, although there may be potential for order. It is turbulent, threatening, unknown and unknowable.
May 2012 | Halo and Noose 7
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