Think of the now well-known butterfly effect where a flap of a butterfly’s wings somewhere can change the course of a hurricane in a different place a week later, or “that a flap of that butterfly’s wings a millimetre to the left might have deflected the hurricane in a totally different direction.” 5
Chaotic situations need to be stabilised so that patterns
(even order) may emerge, and novel responses found. The approach is counter-intuitive: to first act (nimbly and deftly), then probe, sense and respond. Sometimes chaotic situations self-organise back to stability. Groups with a situation that is under the spotlight might
traverse the model in order to achieve a convergence of sense-making, and appropriate agreed response: “They consider the corner where everyone knows the right answer, the corner where an expert could be expected to know the right answer, the corner where the situation only becomes clear retrospectively, and the corner where there is no right answer.” 2
Author: Graham Williams
There is a fifth domain or context in the framework: Disorder. This applies when it is not clear to all which of the other four domains is dominant. Participants hold different viewpoints, are ‘located’ in different domains. It’s a question of awaiting further collective insight in order to make collective sense. Discussion and further sharing of perspectives, and perhaps breaking the situation down into building blocks and assigning these building blocks to domains is usually a way through such an impasse.
But again, in our sense-making endeavours we should think
‘states’ or ‘domains’, and not ‘categories’. The purpose is not to ‘pigeon-hole’ a situation but rather to make sense of what is in play, which may be a situation spanning more than one domain, and certainly more than one perspective. Makes sense?
This simplified, explanation doesn’t do justice to the richness and application-potential of the Cynefin framework. Indeed most contextualisation and meaning may reside in transitioning the boundaries between domains. An analogy could be to think about the dynamics of how water ‘moves’ to becoming ice or vice versa (melting, freezing) or ‘moves’ to becoming steam or vice versa (boiling, condensation). The boundaries between domains in the framework may be fluid or solid, strong or weak. Movements between boundaries may be deliberate or happenstance. Participants need to be aware of when and how boundaries may be approaching, if they may be managed, and if, when and how they could be crossed. And of course - how to respond and act in the ‘new’ domain once they have crossed over.
Author: Dorian Haarhoff Not taking sense-making to this level (of movements
between domains), is a bit like ignoring what causes flowing traffic to suddenly snarl up, grind to a halt, or ignoring the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. But the purpose of the outline given here is to explain the basic concept, point to its richness, and its power to increase collective awareness, adaptability, resilience and robustness. If your interest has been awakened, visits to
www.cfkurtz.com and
www.cognitive-edge. com are recommended.
Cynthia Kurtz’s Confluence Sense-making Framework (which has roots in and shares some aspects with Cynefin, and is evolving differently) is less about domains and more about organisation blending with self-organisation.
8 Halo and Noose | May 2012
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