Cynefin Framework
In the article, “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making”
by David Snowden, he states that “Good leadership required openness to change
on an individual level” (par. 36). This statement alone could be one of the
single most important details when it comes to describing a good leader. It is
the starting place of new leader and determining factor of whether or not a
leader will succeed. Once the leader is open to the change, they are able to
see things in a new way, but it doesn’t mean that identifying solutions to
problems will all of a sudden become easy. This is where the Cynefin framework
can help.
The Cynefin framework is separated into for quadrants: simple,
complicated, complex, and chaotic. Every leader has their own style of
leadership that works for them, but sometimes that style interferes with the
situation at hand and can actually cause them to make mistakes. This is where
the Cynefin framework can help. By being able to determine the type of situation
they are dealing within the four quadrants, they are also able to determine a
better course of action to take to enable them to make a better decision.
The simple quadrant is where everyone is aware of all the
facts and there is a definite cause and effect. The complicated quadrant is
where everyone is aware that there are unknown factors and experts are needed to
help determine the outcome. In the complex quadrant there are no right answers,
a lot of unknowns, and requires creativity and innovation. The chaotic quadrant
is probably the most understood quadrant in the fact that it is extremely tense
and turbulent; there are no right answers, no cause-and-effect, and no time to
even think about the right answers.
I think most people have some type of leadership examples in
the simple and complicated quadrants and not as much in the complex and
chaotic. However, thinking in terms of my own examples, complex and chaotic is
where I seem to step in more of a leadership role. As a person I seem to always
think in terms of the big picture, even when I was little. I actually remember when
I was only around 11 or 12 my father stopping and looking at me one day when we
were in one of those chaotic situations, and being amazed at how I was able to
see the bigger picture of that situation.
As an adult who has worked at an airport most of her life, a
lot of situations are of the complex and chaotic type. An example of a complex
situation would be when we know that we have over-sold flights. We know in advance
that they are over-sold, but the situation is very unpredictable and we just
have to wait until an instructive pattern emerges. There are many ideas that
are thrown out as to how the situation should be handled, but each time it
happens the situation is unique. Most of the time, a creative and innovative
approach to this problem is needed in order to handle it as smoothly as
possible. As the leader of this situation, I could make sure that days in
advance everyone is aware of the situation and we could start the communication
about what our possibilities are. Everyone would have input and we could pick
the situation that might best fit that scene. Things will change and as they do
we will have to be flexible open about our plan of action.
An example of a situation that would be in the chaotic
quadrant would be when an aircraft arrives due to emergency. In these
situations there are no known knowns and nothing can be predicted. You are
given a set of facts of the situation, you determine all of your possibilities,
and then you decide very quickly on the best course of action based off of
those variables.
As a leader, sometimes just knowing where to start is the
hardest part. The Cynefin framework really helps give the leader that starting
point. Once the problem has been classified, it can help determine the course
of action the leader will take when leading the group.
Reference:
Snowden, D.J., and Boone, M.E. (2007). A leaders framework for decision making (Links
to an external site.). Havard Business Review. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making.
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