Reflections on the
Cynefin Framework
Leaders face multiple demands with
a variety of decisions and responses.
The framework can give an improved context for decision making because
once the domain is identified, leaders can then take appropriate action based
on what decision model goes along with the particular domain. Knowing the framework is essentially
divergent from the norm where, depending on the space, leaders think and
analyze differently. Diverting from one
size fits all, traditional approaches to leadership can help leaders better
assimilate complex concepts and contexts and generate enhanced communication
and contextual understanding (Snowden & Boone, 2007).
Five ways the framework can give an improved context for
decision making, including three examples each quadrant can facilitate the process:
If operating in the simple domain,
using the framework gives the leader an improved context because they can
continually delegate and ensure that proper processes are in place, using best
practices to communicate clearly and directly, however, the simple domain is
highly vulnerable to rapid and accelerated change. Knowing this, leaders can use these best
practices and decision-making strategies while being cognizant not become
complacent and believe their myths and past processes to the extent they think
they are invulnerable to failure. The
simple quadrant facilitated my decision making in the past in several ways when
I worked at Target. An example of sense,
categorize, and respond was, I was given a manifest of the trucks ahead of
time, so I knew exactly what was on them and the number and types of
cartons. This was helpful for me to
accurately plan the unload labor exactly.
Another example, I was given a factual budget that I used to schedule
labor, which was a fact-based decision, and it was broken down by
department. Each department had a
specific budget, which made it simple to plan within this known-known fact-based
context. Another example was ad
set. I was sent a preview of the next
week's ad ahead of time, which was guaranteed each week. I had a routine, fact-based process of best
practices. When I established this
process, I trained a team for ad prep, creating clear, direct training. I delegated the team to set up end caps,
ensured the POS system was programmed to accept the deals, and setting the
marketing; displaying all the add and signage.
Because the redundancy of the process was like clockwork each week, I
could stay connected without micromanaging.
When operating in the complicated
domain, the framework can help leaders working within this domain by applying
the analytical decision model of sense, analyze, and respond. Leaders can create teams or panels of experts
to diagnose the situations that arise.
Being aware of the hazards within this domain of analysis paralysis, and
advice from non-experts and continually operating in fact-based management will
allow for a higher chance of success operationally. The complicated quadrant facilitated decision
making in my leadership experience at Target involving our incident response to
theft. We were given a decision tree on
response procedures for what should happen in the event of a theft. However,
not every incident is applicable, and there are many unknowns. If a situation progressed past the decision
tree, there might be more than one right way to handle it. This decision would be left to the discretion
of the leader on duty (LOD), as well as the asset protection (AP) team. Since the AP team is trained on security
equipment and measures, they would be the experts to involve in the analysis of
the situation. Another example of a
complicated situation the framework can facilitate is a standard operating
procedure for conducting an annual inventory of the store which is complicated
because it only happens once a year and involves many steps, in an attempt to
capture all the inventory in the entire store.
It is planned out six months in advance and carried out by only the most
experienced personnel. If a situation
presented if the system recognized there was work in progress (product in the
backroom but not scanned to the shelves, registers were not all closed out, or
manifests from the latest trucks were not received), this would involve
troubleshooting by experts. There were
times we brought in experts from the distribution center to diagnosis
issues. Cause and effects in this
situation were discoverable but not immediately apparent. A third example is the red card sales at the
POS. I instituted a teaching team of
team members I considered expert in the sale of red cards to train other team
members using role-playing. Team members
were given scenarios on what to say to guests to close the sale of a red
card. When team members were not meeting
their goals, I paired them up with an expert to walk through the
conversations. We did not know what to
expect, and therefore this was within the realm of known unknowns.
Applying the framework to the
complex domain is beneficial to leaders operating in this space because it will
allow them to apply the appropriate decision model to probe, sense, and respond
using approaches that encourage patients and interaction so patterns can emerge
naturally. Leaders within this domain
understand they are in a continual state of flux and unpredictability with no
right answers, a system without causality.
Leaders can conduct experients and amplify results of experiments are
successful and dampen effects when experiments fail. Pattern-based leadership, using methods that
generate ideas while encouraging open discussion, encouraging dissent and
diversity will set the stage for emerging trends. Leaders should be vigilant not to fall into
command and control fact-based management.
An example of how the complex quadrant facilitated my past decision
making was when I initially began homeschooling. As my first experience, I relied on the
research I had done on various curriculums although, I found there are many
options with competing ideas and many varying opinions on them all. This was unpredictable because each person
learns differently and I had to discover what worked best for my son. After choosing, I had to be patient with my
son and myself and allow time for reflection.
Eventually, after nearly two years and three curriculum changes, we
settled on one that he’s thriving in with an increased level of learning,
communication, and interaction. Another
example where the complex quadrant facilitates my decisions is when raising my
children. My children are the complete
opposite, so finding a balance in the different parenting styles they needed
was challenging. There were no right
answers, but there were many competing ideas.
This called for creativity and time for reflection, continually probing,
sensing, and from there, responding. I
wanted to be the best version of myself possible for my children, continually
encouraging communication and open discussion on how situations affected
them. The right decisions eventually
emerged as we all navigated ups and downs.
Operating in the chaotic realm
while applying the framework, leaders become aware of the necessity to operate
quickly within the model of act, sense, and respond. Leaders will set up mechanisms to take
advantage of opportunities the chaotic situation presents, working to shift the
context by looking for what works immediately until order is established. An example of how the framework facilitated
my decision-making in a chaotic situation was when the store experienced a
power outage during peak hours. I was
never briefed on a standard operating procedure in the event of a storewide
power outage because the situation was extremely rare. When this happened, after the power did not
return after several minutes, I shut the store down by talking over the
megaphone asking all customers to calmly exit to the front of the store,
leaving their carts and merchandise. I
apologized for any inconvenience and assured them that we are working on a
quick resolution. I communicated over
the radio with team members and instructed them to sweep through their
departments, assisting guests through to the exits. While we were ensuring the safety of our
guests, the power returned. In this
scenario, my top priority was safety.
There was no time to think once I realized the generators had not kicked
on right away, so my goal was to act, sense, then respond, working to shift the
situation from chaotic to complex. The
only other chaotic situation in my control that I can recall was during
hurricane Irma. Once we realize the
storm had shifted toward us, we also realized several families who lived at sea
level were reaching out for help. I
invited everyone to come to our home to “hunker down.” Once everyone had arrived, the situation grew
more chaotic as panic had set in. I took
immediate action to re-establish order by delegating teams to work together on
preparation. I assigned a few men to
board up the windows and take care of the house on the outside while I aligned
all the kids to set up sleeping arrangements, bringing luggage to appropriate
rooms, I assigned the women to plan out how we would share in meal, bathing,
and cleaning responsibilities while conserving power when the generator was
running. Because everyone had a duty to
focus on, this clear and direct communication set everyone at ease, and we all
set to work on our tasks. The chaotic
situation then went into the complex domain and from that point with an
environment of interaction and communication; I became patient allowing for
natural interaction to take place. I was
able to shift my leadership style from command and control
Leaders operating in disorder can
apply the framework by analyzing the situation to identify what domain they are
operating in instead of assessing the space according to their personal
preferences for action. It is difficult
to see when the domain of disorder applies because there are multiple different
perspectives. In his blog, Snowden
discusses disorder in Cynefin as the state of being unaware of the underlying
ontology, or nature of the system, which results in inauthentic behavior
(Snowden, 2016). Additionally, Snowden and
Boone suggest the way out of the realm of disorder is to break the situation
down into its parts and assign each part to one of the contexts. This allows leaders to then make decisions in
contextually appropriate ways (Snowden & Boone, 2007). I think of disorder as the state we are in
most of the time before we discover what context of the framework we are
in. Because of this, we are always in a
state of disorder until we establish the context and implement the appropriate
decision model to start the process of leading effectively regardless of the context.
Although the definition of the
domain of disorder seems clear, I struggled to recall a specific scenario in the
domain of disorder. I came across Chris
Corrigans training on complexity where he presents his audience with an
exercise to illustrate the disorder domain.
He asked themselves to order themselves economically. There were varying attempts to define
economics but the group found that they exhibit much diversity
economically. They also tried applying every
domain to the word to somehow organize without oversimplifying or
overcomplicating it. A full range of
emotions was expressed before the task itself moved into a chaotic context as
differing solutions and organizing schemes were suggested. The exercise was a good example of dealing
with problems in disorder. They found
that addressing issues with knowledge tends to be undermining regarding who and how
people are as well as how people are oriented to our contexts and how we see
the world (Carrigan, 2014). This is the
realm I envision when world leaders come together to solve the world’s problems
like global warming. Everyone has their
own context for this issue with varying beliefs of its validity or how pertinent
it is to life on earth. I imagine this
discussion to be in the realm of disorder like it seems many political issues
can be.
The domains of the Cynefin framework helps leaders in decision making by helping them to perceive the environment and make sense of it as well as behavior especially if they perceive the environment to be irrational or unpredictable. It can give an improved context for decision making because once the domain is identified, leaders can take appropriate action based on the decision model from the respective domain. Additionally, it can help leaders avoid problems including when they get stuck in decision making patterns when applying their preferred leadership style.
References:
Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). A leader’s
framework for decision making. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making
Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). Decisions in
multiple contexts: A leader's guide. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making
Snowden, D. (2016). The domain of disorder (i). Retrieved
from /blog/the-domain-of-disorder-i/
Corrigan, C. (2014). The importance of the disorder domain
in cynefin. Retrieved on July 21, 2019
from http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/the-importance-of-the-disorder-domain-in-cynefin/
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