The Cynefin Framework

Cynefin(pronounced as kuh-nev-in) is an Irish word meaning habitat. Just like everything exists in a habitat, all kinds of problems exists in Cynefin Framework as well. The framework originated in IBM and was introduced in HBR by the authors The formal diagram for the framework looks thus.

Now, what does all this mean? There are four kinds of problems -

• Chaotic - you don’t exactly know what’s happening

• Complex - you know a solution exists somewhere but don’t know how to find it

• Complicated - solution exists but it’s in expert domain

• Clear - No big deal. Just understand and solve

Conceptually, this is something like this - is it easy or hard and is it organized or disorganized?