Where Am I? The Cynefin Framework
The Doctrine of Metaphor Frameworks
The Cynefin Framework tells you to the answer to the question,
Where am I?
Now, when asked where you are, the answer could be Toronto, New York, Accra, a kitchen, anything.
Instead of asking, “Where Am I” you might ask yourself, “How complex is the situation I find myself in RIGHT NOW?”
Cynefin answers this question.
Pre-requisites:
This lesson relies on your knowledge of what a function is and how it works. While I’ll explain it in this lesson, for a full understanding of why Functional Programming has risen as the dominant software development paradigm and how it can help you in business, take The Function lesson before you attempt this one.
The End Of Endless Debate Cycles
When you’re at work, you’ll often find yourself arguing with people over what is true.
I think this is true. No it isn’t. Yes that’s true but. Have you considered…
It’s a common occurrence in meetings. The reason that meetings get complicated is that facts are elusive when the world is complex.
When things are complex, what was true yesterday may not be true tomorrow. What’s false yesterday could be true tomorrow.
Cultivating a Healthy Respect for Complex Systems
One can argue that hedge funds have more access to information than anyone. However, I haven’t seen any hedge funds who predicted that penguin jpeg’s would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but that’s the world we live in today with NFTs. The world of economics given rising interest rates and inflation and a migration to a multi-polar world makes facts hard to trust.
And that’s where the Cynefin Framework comes in.
I see a lot of startups spending most of their describing problems rather than solving them (Thiel). Makes sense,
It’s easier to describe a problem than to solve it.
-Thiel
And that’s where The Cynefin Framework comes into play with Dave Snowden. The video below will make everything make sense. Dave has a wonderfully dark sense of humour.
The Cynefin Framework
The Cynefin Framework argues that our situation is defined by how complex the situation is.
But what does complexity mean? Dave Snowden would define complexity as,
The nature of the relationships of inputs and outputs in a system.
Let’s be more specific. Dave describes the four different types of environments we find ourselves in:
Simple
Complicated
Complex
Chaotic
Each of these environments is typified by the nature of the input and output relationships that can be defined.
Simple - everyone can see the input process output relationship.
Complicated - we can map out of the input process output relationships, but it’s a bit of a mess.
Complex - we cannot map the input process output relationships with certainty.
Chaotic - every time we try to map the input process output relationships we get hopelessly stuck because everything is always changing all the time.
The Key and Ultimate Takeaways From The Cynefin Framework
The key takeaway from the Cynefin Framework is how to distinguish between Complicated Situations and Complex Situations.
When the situation is complicated, the answer is complicated but can be found. When the situation is complex, the answer depends. In complex situations, the probabilities are always changing, the climate is always changing, the customer is always changing their mind.
The ultimate takeaway from the Cynefin Framework is that when we are in a complex situation, we need to probe the environment to see how it responds by making safe experiments.
We need to make safe experiments in a complex environment because you don’t know what lions tigers and deadly octopi lay in waiting for us.
The reason that people disagree in meetings is because they don’t agree on the type of environment they’re in. People who think we’re in a Simple Environment will not recognize the need for further inquiry. People who think the situation is more Complex than it is will disagree with the confidence of people who think the situation is not Complex but rather Complicated.
