LIBRARY
GLO 410: Systems Thinking: Chapter 10: Cynefin
This guide for Systems Thinking provides students with links to references from the textbook Systems Concepts in Action in addition to other resources to help develop systemic thinkers.
Cynefin
"Developed by David Snowden and Cynthia Kurtz when they were at the IBM's Institute of Knowledge Management, Cynefin identifies four behaviors a situation can display: simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic. This terminology is not new; the systems literature has used it for decades. However, in Cynefin the behaviors and the properties that underpin these four states are not entirely drawn from systems theories or even theories of chaos and complexity. Cynefin draws heavily on network theory, learning theories, and third-generation knowledge management."-Systems Concepts in Action, Chapter 10 
eBooks/ Articles
- The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world
C.F. Kurtz, D.J. Snowden. 2003. "Describe[s] the Cynefin framework, a sense-making device we have developed to help people make sense of the complexities made visible by the relaxation of these
assumptions." - A Leader's Framework for Decision Making
Snowden, David J. Boone, Mary E. 2007. "Using the Cynefin framework can help executives... make better decisions [and] also avoid the problems that arise when their preferred management style causes them to make mistakes." - Cynefin: repeatability, science and values
French, Simon. 2008. "Explore[s] the ideas
underlying Cynefin and their import for thinking about values and how these enter into decision making in different contexts."
Cynefin Explanation
Web Resources
- The Cynefin Framework
Bostic, Farrah. 2014. This article includes a video which describes the Cynefin framework.
Examples/ Case Studies
- A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making
Snowden, David J. Boone, Mary E. 2007. From the Harvard Business Review. Explains the Cynefin framework as it pertains to leaders and executives. - Tackling the wicked problem of ERM: using the Cynefin framework as a lensChilds, Sue. McLeod, Julie. 2016. "The purpose of this paper is to complement a previous article on using the Cynefin
framework to make sense of the electronic records management challenge."