Cynefin
The Cynefin framework, developed by Dave Snowden, is another conceptual model used to aid decision making. Like the Stacey Matrix it categorizes challenges into simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic. Rather than a focus on levels of certainty and agreement, Cynefin focuses on the relationship between cause an effect.
In simple contexts, the relationship between cause and effect is obvious allowing for a best practice to be described regardless of context. A cookbook is a collection of best practices. The user of the cookbook senses or asks what food their guests would like. Then they scan the table of contents for the category of food they would like to make and respond by picking the recipe they will use.
In complicated contexts, there may be a clear relationship between cause and effect, but discerning it requires expert analysis. As a result, complicated problems may have multiple right answers depending on the expert and their analytic approach. With multiple right answers, one can only define good practice, not best practice. When sending a rocket to the moon, many types of expertise must be integrated. Each expert senses the variables that are most important from their perspective, they analyze the situation through experimentation, and then together they respond by designing the rocket to send into space.
For complex problems, the relationship between cause and effect can only be determined in retrospect. In complex situations, the whole is more than the sum of the parts and the system may be in constant flux. Since cause and effect can only be determined with hindsight, practices cannot be "best" or "good"; they must be discovered through trial and error, experimentation, and study. In this way practice is emergent. Raising a child is a constant process of trial and error. Parents probe what might work with a specific child in a specific context. With each trial parents develop a sense of the practices they can use to try to effectively respond to each specific situation.
In a chaotic situation, the relationship between cause and effect is impossible to determine, so trying to figure it out is pointless. Leaders need to act immediately to establish order to shift the chaotic situation to one that is maybe only complex. Efforts to sense emerging patterns from different chaotic situations can help in the future when one needs to respond with another novel practice.
![Cynefin practice The image is a simple, text-based diagram that illustrates the Cynefin framework's four domains: Complex, Complicated, Chaotic, and Simple. Each domain is labeled with a type of practice that is appropriate for dealing with systems or problems within that domain: "Best practice" for Simple, "Good practice" for Complicated, "Emergent practice" for Complex, and "Novel practice" for Chaotic. Disorder lies at the center, suggesting that it's a state of not knowing which of the four domains applies. The framework was created by Dave Snowden, and the image credits Frameworks Collection by finegood@sfu.ca and illustration by sam@drawingchange.com, with a Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.](/content/sfu/complex-systems-frameworks/frameworks/complex-vs-complicated/cynefin/jcr:content/main_content/image.img.2000.high.jpg/1710792139726.jpg)
![Cynefin approach The image is a conceptual diagram of the Cynefin framework, showing four domains for decision-making, each with a suggested approach. The domains are denoted by quadrants connected to a central area labeled "disorder." The bottom right is labeled "Simple" with the strategy "Best practice: sense, categorize, respond," implying that the situation is straightforward and a best practice can be easily applied. The top right is labeled "Complicated" with the strategy "Good practice: sense, analyze, respond," which involves understanding through analysis before taking action. The top left is labeled "Complex" with the strategy "Emergent practice: probe, sense, respond," suggesting a need to experiment and learn from the outcomes. The bottom left is labeled "Chaotic," with the strategy "Novel practice: act, sense, respond," recommending immediate action to bring order. The framework was developed by Dave Snowden, and the image includes attributions to the Frameworks Collection by finegood@sfu.ca and illustrations by sam@drawingchange.com, along with a CC BY-NC-ND Creative Commons license notice.](/content/sfu/complex-systems-frameworks/frameworks/complex-vs-complicated/cynefin/jcr:content/main_content/image_1378106590.img.2000.high.jpg/1710792390476.jpg)
![Cynefin all text The image is a graphical representation of the Cynefin framework, a conceptual framework used for decision-making. It's structured into four domains, represented as contiguous areas with curved boundaries: The "Simple" domain, in the bottom right, notes "The relationship between cause and effect is obvious to all" and is labeled "Best practice." The "Complicated" domain, top right, says "The relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge" and is marked with "Good practice." The "Complex" domain top left states "The relationship between cause and effect can only be perceived in hindsight" and is tagged with "Emergent practice." The "Chaotic" domain, at the bottom left, reads "The relationship between cause and effect at system level" with the notation "Novel practice." At the center, where the domains meet, there's a black, irregular shape labeled "disorder." The framework was developed by Dave Snowden, and the image includes attributions to the Frameworks Collection by finegood@sfu.ca and illustrations by sam@drawingchange.com, along with a CC BY-NC-ND Creative Commons license notice.](/content/sfu/complex-systems-frameworks/frameworks/complex-vs-complicated/cynefin/jcr:content/main_content/image_1591557628.img.2000.high.jpg/1710792692367.jpg)
Deeper Dive
- Snowden, DJ and MA Boone. A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making. Harvard Business Review, 2007.
- Snowden, DJ. The Cynefin Framework. The Cognitive Edge, 2010.