From the website:
Cognitive Edge was founded in 2005 with the objective of building methods, tools and capability to utilise insights from Complex Adaptive Systems theory and other scientific disciplines in social systems. This approach, known variously as Naturalising Sensemaking and Cognitive Complexity has developed three main focus areas:
The development of SenseMaker® – a software ecology which integrates decision support, research, monitoring and knowledge management
Comprehensive global education programme – a broad network of practitioners able to use the methods and tools developed by Cognitive Edge. Approximately 2,700+ Network Members now exist both within organisations and as independents
The research agenda – acknowledged by the Academy of Management with two awards for the Cynefin framework, which is at the heart of the approach
People
Derived from David’s LinkedIn Profile and Wikipedia page:
David is currently working on the application of natural sciences to social systems through the development of a range of methods and the SenseMaker® software suite. He is known for the development of the Cynefin framework and is the founder and chief scientific officer of Cognitive Edge, a management consulting firm specializing in complexity and sensemaking.
Specialities:
- Sensemaking
- Knowledge Management
- Complexity Science applied to organisations
- Narrative
Web Properties
Recent Content
Last 50 posts on own channels (YouTube, Podcast, Medium or Website/Blog):
Vector theory of change – a theory of change for complex systems
Published on: 19 Jan 22 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Linda Doyle
Vector theory of change – a theory of change for complex systems
Published on: 19 Jan 22 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Linda Doyle
Entanglement: empathy via abduction
Published on: 27 Nov 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
How to Create a Citizen Sensor Network
Published on: 24 Nov 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by lindadoyle
The process of strategy 3 of 3
Published on: 19 Nov 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
The process of strategy 2 of 3
Published on: 11 Oct 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by dave snowden
The process of strategy 1 of 3
Published on: 5 Oct 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
What gives you hope for the future?
Published on: 30 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Linda Doyle
Of people, roles and ritual (3 of 3)
Published on: 29 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Of people, roles and ritual (2 of n)
Published on: 28 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Of people, roles and ritual (1 of n)
Published on: 27 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Ralph Stacey 10/9/1942 – 4/9/2021
Published on: 26 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Prevarication by platitude
Published on: 14 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
20 years on, some memories
Published on: 11 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Learning: an anthro-complexity perspective
Published on: 9 Sep 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
… which ruminates when walking
Published on: 27 Aug 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
…the eye was bewildered
Published on: 25 Aug 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
We’re launching a Citizen Engagement & Democratic Innovation Programme White Paper
Published on: 23 Aug 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Linda Doyle
15 years on
Published on: 25 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Too fast, too soon?
Published on: 24 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Mοῦσα, πολύπλοκον: some thoughts around trying to translate Cynefin into Greek
Published on: 20 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
Pleaches, Liggers & the ‘C’ words
Published on: 19 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
At the Complexity turn …
Published on: 18 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Siphonophorae not hybrid (2 of 2)
Published on: 16 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Siphonophorae not hybrid (1 of 2)
Published on: 15 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Comment on Maps or charts? by Greg Brougham
Published on: 14 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Greg Brougham
Comment on Maps or charts? by Pierre
Published on: 14 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Pierre
Comment on Maps or charts? by Luis García
Published on: 13 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Luis García
Maps or charts?
Published on: 13 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Spotting anomalies
Published on: 12 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Natural science as counter-factual
Published on: 11 Jul 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Comment on The tyranny of the explicit by Dissolution of problems in organisations (Complex Adaptive Systems) – part 1/2 – Introduction – System Collaboration Blog Book
Published on: 28 Jun 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dissolution of problems in organisations (Complex Adaptive Systems) – part 1/2 – Introduction – System Collaboration Blog Book
How the elephant got his trunk: what evolution can teach us about complexity
Published on: 7 Jun 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
How the elephant got his trunk: what evolution can teach us about complexity
Published on: 7 Jun 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
Comment on Bad titles and the need for theory to inform practice by Series: Are you stuck in a rabbit hole…? – Introduction – System Collaboration Blog Book
Published on: 23 May 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Series: Are you stuck in a rabbit hole…? – Introduction – System Collaboration Blog Book
Coherence and ‘truth’
Published on: 4 May 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
To curate or be curated?
Published on: 9 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
The Woozle effect
Published on: 8 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Looking back at the Acorn Study; Part 9: Seedlings
Published on: 8 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Published on: 7 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
…fraught with moral peril
Published on: 6 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
A word or two about words … (2/2)
Published on: 4 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
A word or two about words …
Published on: 3 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Fool or foolish?
Published on: 2 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
I will lift up my eyes …
Published on: 1 Apr 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Flexuous flight
Published on: 29 Mar 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Naturalising narrated
Published on: 28 Mar 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Dave Snowden
Looking back at the Acorn Study; Part 8.2: And then COVID happened
Published on: 18 Mar 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
Looking back at the Acorn Study; Part 8.1: And then COVID happened
Published on: 11 Mar 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
Looking back at the Acorn Study; Part 7: Hope, loss, and sacrifice
Published on: 4 Mar 21 in Cognitive Edge – Website
by Anna Panagiotou
If you want to take a shortcut, this blog is launching an explainer on vector theory of change—a theory of change for complex systems. *** Imagine standing at the base
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If you want to take a shortcut, this blog is launching an explainer on vector theory of change—a theory of change for complex systems. *** Imagine standing at the base
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The last three blog posts provided the core scaffolding for what I have been calling the Estuarine framework (pending getting a proper name for it). I’ve got a lot of
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New uses for sensors are being created all the time; from marinas using them to increase safety by guiding yachts boats into place to taps in the public toilets. Animals
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I’ve got into the habit of tweeting a summit picture from each Wainwright summit as a part of my challenge to complete all 214 in less than 40 days. For
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Thanks to a sudden slip on greasy rock descending from Red Screes I’m home a couple of days early. The absence of cartilage under both patellas, managed through kinesiology tape
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This post follows on from the September series which looked at the whole issue of the learning organisation, and I have no intention of getting involved in the debates about
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What gives you hope for the future? That’s what we’re asking communities around the world. Introducing A New Community Engagement Demo SenseMaker® Collector Our new SenseMaker® collector focuses on
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In bringing this three-part series of blog posts to an end I just want to remind readers that they are in effect an extension of the original post on learning
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To continue from my post of yesterday, and with less intent to be polemical, but definite intent to disturb, I want to advocate an approach to design and development within
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From time to time I am invited to speak at The Stoa, a group that got together at the start of the pandemic and has continued since. Always an interesting
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I can’t imagine that anyone interested in complexity in organisations will not know the work of Ralph Stacy, or not be saddened to learn of his death earlier this month.
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The road to hell, they say is paved with good intentions and nothing is more frustrating in the general field of sense-making and complexity work than when you encounter said
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If you go back in time then two books could be considered to have laid the foundation for what I have termed the ‘systems thinking’ era which runs from the
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Carwyn Edwards sent me an interesting link via social media the other day. It was to an article by an anthropologist at Dartmouth College on the link between great thinking
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Back from holiday (of which more tomorrow) and a chance to pick up the blog agai as well as to reconnect with ‘civilisation’ in general. Part of that return was
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So on this day, 15 years ago I wrote my first ever blog post. I was just settling into staff accommodation at Nanyang University (The banner picture I grabbed from
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This post picks up on the idea of shallow monogamy in my post of a few days ago looking at some of the obstacles to the adoption of complexity thinking. The other two
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Unless this is the first time you have stumbled across this blog by accident, you might have come across the idea of “the Wiki”. This usually does not refer to The
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Two interesting sets of interactions on social media triggered today’s post. One was a distinction made between cutting down a tree and trimming a hedge. That one came from a
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We live, as the Chinese curse tells us, in interesting times; and those times, to paraphrase Lincoln require us to both think anew and act anew. As ever any radical
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Yesterday I raised the idea of using a colony of different organisms that have evolved to collaborate as a single entity as a metaphor for new forms of organisation. In
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Dave’s Thinking: Focus day 💡 In the context of approaches to #strategy 💡 Dave Snowden has talked about maps and mapping a lot over the years. the process of strategy we are talking about maps, and the use of maps to navigate a partially charted future. So the way things follow this sequence: 1. Map the constraints, ideally using SenseMaker®
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The landscape of #Narrative! We’ll delve into the triangle of distributed #ethnography, sense-making, and narrative practice. Get ready to embark on an exciting journey with the Narrative BaseCamp as we delve into: 🌟 Narrative in anthro-complexity and its key, but often invisible role in human cognition, pattern-seeking and recognition, and #decisionmaking. 🌟 Understand narrative’s power as a form of communication,
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Our next global #community of #complexity, Cynefin and SenseMaker® practitioners events list and latest Quarterly Meetup with Dave Snowden & Friends: Agency & Identity recordings (1 Hour) 👇 🌟 In this Meetup, we focused on Agency & Identity, which was part of the 3As typology of Assemblages, Affordances, and Agency. We continued to explore these 3As in the context of
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Customer experiences as #narrative landscapes! A company sees customer experience as the make or break for succeeding at a brand transformation or a brand change initiative. Most if not all of my introductory conversations emphasize that SenseMaker® is a narrative or engagement-driven solution that uses technology to aid in scalability as well as to facilitate wider and deeper scanning….The experience
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Most of our work crosses disciplinary spaces, from #health, to #citizenengagement, human rights, culture and beyond – really embracing the essence of #complexity. But one thing that cuts across is our desire to make meaningful and positive change in the communities around us. So we always get excited when we see #SenseMaker together with the words “to inform intersectoral, advocacy
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An in-depth overview of the Estuarine Framework workshop with Dave Snowden by Tom Kerwin, which remains valuable to the following. Let’s delve into a few key points. 🌟 In the Estuarine Framework, we use metaphors to arrive at the situation obliquely and increase the range of perspectives we view the situation. The use of metaphor also increases the #cognitive load
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A proven Sensemaker® experience shared by Anna Panagiotou… and you can enjoy the SenseMaker® Engagement Demonstrator through the link below.👇 🌟 What #Sensemaker did for me was offer a lens to see and understand things not as isolated entities, but in the context of relationships. With its emphasis on recording micro-narratives, micro-experiences, and micro-decisions, it immediately struck me that Sensemaker®
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Celebrating 19 Years of #Innovation: A Journey Beyond Time. 🌟 How does the Sensemaker® platform differ from #survey platforms or similar tools? 👉 Beth Smith: “For me, the biggest USP of SenseMaker® is the shift in power and paradigm through enabling the respondent to ‘self-signify’ i.e. they reflect on their own story and self analyse it. This is a huge
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#Patientsafety cannot, therefore, be seen as just a goal; it is a continuous journey of understanding, adapting, reflecting, and improving. Patient safety is a topic that has evolved with increasing awareness of the complexity of health and #patients journeys (WHO, 2019). Arguably, everyone within the complex adaptive system of a #healthcare team operates with patient safety in mind. At The
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Sensemaker®’s 19-year journey of Digital #Ethnography, Business Intelligence, and Narrative Research era. We proudly celebrate almost Two decades ✨ of pioneering innovation: a journey beyond time. 🌟 Our journey began in 2004, and we’ve made significant progress through our dedication to Anthro-Complexity and the use of this narrative-led method. We’d like to take a moment to reflect and appreciate our
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MassSense is an application of #SenseMaker: Explore a MassSense SenseMaker® (demo) project looking at #workplaceculture👇 https://collector.sensemaker-suite.com/collector?projectID=6e85bee1-5f37-4071-8e64-e9a956cdf5c5 🌟 The use: One of the more well-tried and tested approaches, commonly used for scenario planning and #consulting on ideas or conclusions, similar to the #unsurvey. It can be administered by sharing a URL, interview or in-app collection. 🌟 What’s unique about it: The
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It’s simply a reminder that our ✨ Early Bird discount will expire next week (September 15th) for the #training / #event schedule below: 🌟 Estuarine Mapping Workshop #USA https://thecynefin.co/product/estuarine-mapping-usa-nov-23/ 🌟 Cynefin Retreat: Anthro-complexity and human systems, USA https://thecynefin.co/product/cynefin-retreat-usa-nov-2023/ If you’re already considering booking your seat, why not take advantage of the early bird price? It’s our way of expressing appreciation
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🌟 The picture shows phase shifts between domains in white, with the ordered domains overlapping. Dave Snowden put the #complex and ‘removal of constraints’ together as this is really a boundary condition: he was thinking and working on the boundary domains in #Cynefin. So the dominant, lowest energy cost domain is complex, but that requires comfort with uncertainty and a
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Estuarine Mapping: Updates (The #Cynefin Co’s third Sense-Making major framework). Here, we are outlining Five main changes/additions since first edition: Estuarine Mapping…… 🌟 1. Clear separation of constraints in stage five into boundaries and constructors, shifting from constraints. Constructors produce consistent outputs, we bounce off boundaries. 2. The identification of constraint clusters that act as forward indicators or scouts that
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Cynefin, #complexity and narrative inquiry in #healthcare and #socialcare! Join the Cynefin Co team for 3 days of online workshops as we explore the following topics: 🌟 How do #Cynefin and narrative inquiry apply in the complex health and social care world? 🌟 Contextualise the challenges and opportunities represented by recent shifts in health and care, globally. 🌟 The voice
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🌟 There have been many upgrades and applications of #SenseMaker over the years but we also value looking back at past projects. Today we are choosing to spotlight this #internationaldevelopment work in Kenya by GlobalGiving, supported by Irene Guijt, who in 2011 collected tens of thousands of stories to understand what #community members had, needed, and would like to see
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🌟 We are delighted to announce our upcoming #Cynefin Estuarine Mapping Workshop in the #USA. This will mark our first in-person Estuarine Mapping Workshop in the region in several years, taking place just after the USA Retreat. 🌟 Estuarine Mapping is The Cynefin Co’s third major sense-making method and framework. It offers a flexible approach to understanding and mapping complex
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A summary post on sense-making in #strategy, featuring a series of links to works on #knowledgemanagement, #cultural mapping, #scaffolding……. presents an informative way to spend your weekend. (Blogs by Dave Snowden) Some key points to explore in this Blog post: 1. A series on #Managing #Culture posts link 2. The Cynefin second major sense-making framework: Flexuous Curves link 3. Three-part
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The conversation delves into numerous essential aspects of skilfully navigating #complex situations. It’s certainly a conversation worth tuning in to. Dave Snowden was recently interviewed by Jesse Mulligan on RNZ (Radio New Zealand) while in #newzealand Audio 👉 https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018903832 #complexity #leadershipdevelopment #sensemaking
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Our upcoming Retreat in #Australia will explore, among other topics: 🌟 What possibilities exist for ethics to provide more effective #governance and coherence within complex adaptive systems? 🌟How can we reconsider the notion of distributed ethics, stepping away from a CEO-driven ethical framework? 🌟How might we establish distributed ethics with a sense of shared ownership? Our September 2023 Retreat will
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Dave Snowden always emphasises the need for numerous small projects instead of one big project, either focused on resolving immediate issues or changing the substrate or energy gradient of the system. One of his quotes about #complexsystems is, “The only way to scale a #complex system is by decomposition to the lowest level of coherent granularity (LCCG) and then allowing
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Are you curious about advanced #Cynefin #training with Dave Snowden? You’ll have the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions and hands-on activities to deepen your understanding and explore the potential of your own environment. Key Points for the Event: 🌟 Estuarine mapping updates, including SenseMaker tools 🌟 Distributed #leadership and decision-making, linked to Beyond Budgeting 🌟 Exploring recent case studies
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Happy #WorldHealthDay! A chance to reflect on the theme #HealthForAll. Today Nina Abrahams from our Health and Care programme has written a blog about the need to invest in health – from clinical settings to climate change. Today’s blog is here 👉 https://hubs.la/Q01KGkBS0
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Dave will be sharing his expertise on stimulating and using informal networks for knowledge flow at UNICOM Seminars, Effective Knowledge Management Conference on April 27, 2023. Don’t miss out! To enhance your knowledge management skills do registration 👉 https://hubs.la/Q01KvMhx0
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Join us at the Virtual Cynefin® Basecamp in May 2023. Only 3 seats left! This immersive experience will introduce you to the Cynefin framework and its tools and methods through first-person participation. Book your ticket here 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01K684c0 #Cynefin #Complexity
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Festival of Hope, Beth Smith and Dave Snowden 💡 https://hubs.la/Q01Jfnbr0 #complexity #sensemaking #youthleadership #leadership
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Can’t make the upcoming Wales Retreat? We will be recording the plenary sessions and offering this as a package along with some virtual discussion and reflection sessions with our team. See details at 👉https://hubs.la/Q01J4lyB0
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As the holy month of Ramadan begins today, we at Cynefin Co. extend our warmest wishes to our Muslim colleagues, friends, and clients around the world. We hope that this month brings peace, happiness, and prosperity to all who observe it. #RamadanMubarak🌙✨
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We are excited to share with you that The Cynefin Company has been mentioned in the book “The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups” by Tracey Camilleri, Samantha Rockey, and Robin Dunbar! Book Link https://hubs.la/Q01HtwBV0
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This is your last chance to book yourself into the Annual Mike Jackson Lecture at Hull University next week. We invite you to check out our latest post by Dave Snowden. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity! Here 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01Hl5wy0 #cynefin #systemthinking #lecture
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Our new Hexi approach & associated methods, like the Estuarine Mapping, are continuing to generate excitement. Anna Panagiotou will be offering a CodeCrafts workshop about it all this spring in Vienna. Registration 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01H8fxf0 #vienna #australia #germany #europe
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Our ongoing series on the findings from our MassSense on COVID & climate continues. In this 2nd instalment we exploring the relationship between individual & collective. Don’t miss out on Part 2 of this insightful series here 👇 https://hubs.ly/Q01GMs290 #cynefin #COVID19 #society
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The discussion covers the related concepts of scaffolding and constraints, which are important in the context of complex systems and organisations. https://hubs.la/Q01Gx0NJ0 #cynefin #complexity #theoryofconstraints #leadershipdevelopment
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We’re thrilled to announce the upcoming Virtual Estuarine Mapping & EUFG Masterclass, taking place on March 29th, 2023. To register and learn more, visit our website now 👇 We can’t wait to see you there! https://hubs.la/Q01GffZ50 #cynefin #training #masterclass #complexity
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We are delighted to announce the Corporate Research Forum (CRF) conference on ‘Better Decisions: Making Sense of Complexity,’ featuring keynote speaker Dave Snowden, taking place on March 14 in London, & available online on March 23, 2023. Registration 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01G4QTg0
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We have our final Eagle confirmed for our upcoming Retreat, 19-22 April in Wales! Welcome, @carynvanstone! Caryn specialises in driving performance change & cultivating adaptive cultures within various organisations. Explore your choices here 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01G1Rnt0 #cynefin
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March is International Women’s Month, and the 8th of March is International Women’s Day. Happy International Women’s Day! #iwd2023 #womeninstem #womenintech #internationalwomensday2023 #womenentrepreneurs #EmbraceEquity
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Cynefin Retreats use the Tricopticon process, designed as a fresh compromise between a formal conference and the more unstructured unconference. Wiki page 👉 https://hubs.la/Q01FzPN70 Youtube explainer video 👉 https://hubs.la/Q01FzNs40 Cynefin Retreat: 👉 https://hubs.la/Q01FzM4z0
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“Anything that can help us better understand the complexity of life and all things organisational, is pretty essential in these challenging times and so I really wanted to share Dave’s vision and approach in this Never Normal newsletter” – Peter Hinssen https://hubs.la/Q01Ft_dz0
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The Cynefin Framework and Megaproject Decision-Making Seminar with Dave Snowden on the 8th & 15th of March 2023. The 8th of March registration is fully booked but the 15th of March registration is still open for you. Secure your free spot today here 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01Flzj60
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Rewilding Agile – A Discussion with Dave Snowden https://hubs.la/Q01DWxjL0 #agile #cynefin #rewilding #scrum #leadership
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Thank you Lloyd Mander for sharing your feedback with us. It means a lot to hear your support for our efforts! “I had a great professional development day today in Wellington with Dave Snowden who ran a Masterclass on Cynefin, Estuarine Mapping & Strategy” https://hubs.la/Q01DPblS0
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Our next in-person Estuarine Mapping & EUFG Masterclass is on the 16th of March 2023 in Madrid, Spain. Dig into more details on that event here 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01DLhgX0 #madrid #spain #masterclass #events
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Understanding the organisation as a complex adaptive system offers many opportunities to organisations to increase the rate of innovation and remove excessive costs by understanding what can actually managed. 👇 https://hubs.la/Q01DsDDx0
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Thank you Nicolas Mas for your feedback, it is much appreciated. #Singapore “We learnt about the Cynefin Framework (pronounced /kəˈnɛvɪn/ – a Welsh word) and how it can be used to navigate and address complexity” #agile #cynefin
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Can we use Cynefin Framework to mediate conflicts? A discussion between “Dave” and “The Brand Called You” https://hubs.la/Q01Dcswg0
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