Cynefin principles
As the Cynefin® Framework has evolved, lists of organizing principles or heuristics have also changed. In 2003, thirteen heuristics were roughly grouped into four broad themes. In Cynefin® - Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World, Sonja Blignaut reports on a new listing which frames assorted precepts in relation to three over-arching principles.
See the Cynefin® Framework page for background and context.
Embrace messy coherence
Constraints or boundaries create coherence. A sentence makes sense when it exhibits the structure of a particular language (i.e., I am able to determine if it is English or Russian) and roughly follows grammatical rules. However, when these constraints are lacking, it becomes noise, a jumble of words or sounds that make no sense.
— Sonja Blignaut, Cynefin® - Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World, Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd.
Playing in tension
Cynefin® employs methods that use inherent tensions generatively to increase diversity, resilience and create space for novelty to emerge. This is done by welcoming tension between coherence and difference.
One form of difference is heterogeneity, which is a dissimilarity between elements that comprise a whole; an example of this would be the diversity of an individual's viewpoints, backgrounds, ways of working within the whole of a society or organisation they are operating within. This contrasts with coherence, or similarity, which is often driven into an organisations for different purposes. Sometimes as a way to align people around a particular goal, sometimes for other reasons, like to reduce overheads by asking everyone to use the same email platform and laptop design.
Coherence and heterogeneity are both useful, so Coherent heterogeneity is a term that would summarise the way in which Cynefin® values both coherence and difference. Playing in tension is the principle of gaining an advantage by deliberately creating tension between the two. Playing in tensions can be used to address false dichotomies, often portrayed as a binary options (e.g. Agile OR waterfall), when in reality both have value depending upon the context. Instead of binary options, playing in tension is to encourage the replacement of an OR with an AND; Agile AND waterfall, as is most suitable for the application). Finally, playing in tension can be used to create liminal spaces; which are the transitions in-between two states, where we can suspend judgement and avoid prematurely converging onto one solution.
Heuristics not rules
A heuristic is an approach to problem solving that uses a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, for example a 'rule of thumb'. Heuristics allow for a more universally applicable solution that is based on experience and enable a short-cut for decision making.
Cynefin's "embrace messy coherence" principle encourages heuristics because rules assume the outcome of the application is predictable, whereas the realities of bounded applicability means that a rule applied in one context will often fail to deliver the desired outcome in another.
Heuristics can be deployed as enabling constraints, since their application can be objectively examined and be specific enough to be applied clearly, but vague enough to enable experimentation or adaptation to the situation.
Bounded applicability
Bounded applicability refers to the limitations that apply to concepts based on the context of its original or intended environment.
For example, after finding that an Agile framework is working well within the Product Development arm of a company, one cannot assume that the same framework will serve the Manufacturing department with the same effectiveness.
More universal examples are seen in fields research where the applicability of a finding will change over time or space. For example, the findings of a social study conducted in the Western hemisphere may not apply in the East when considering the cultural differences of the nations.
"Cynefin also recognises that no tools, methods or answers are universally applicable. It makes us aware of the concept of bounded applicability - the importance of understanding the nature of your problem as it sits within your own environment; and the methods or tools that are useful in your particular context. For example, in predictable project contexts where the scope is defined and everything is known, Waterfall approaches to project management work well. However, in complex contexts with fluid user requirements and many unknown unknowns, we need to adopt more Agile approaches." Blignaut & Goh
Descriptive self-awareness & self-discovery
We create a context where voices are heard, and hold up a mirror so that the ‘system can see itself’ in different and potentially possibly transformative ways.
— Sonja Blignaut, Cynefin® - Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World, Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd.