The Cynefin Framework

Cynefin is a welsh Word which for people like me, who don’t speak welsh is pronounced k-neven.

It is a model developed by Dave Snowden while he was working at IBM. 

Cynefin framework is a sense-making model which is used  as a basis (Kurt and Snowden, 2003), because it provides an specifically  understanding of the attributes of complex systems in its non-deterministic definition, while it also gives a way to study such problems, managing the emerging patterns. 

As told by O’Neill (2004), the Cynefin Framework "explores the relationship between man, experience and context" and proposes new approaches to communication, decision-making, policy-making and knowledge management in complex social environments.

The Cynefin framework can help managers to sense in which context they are. This helps them to make better decisions and also to avoid the problems that arise when their preferred management style causes them to make mistakes. 

The framework is composed by 4 domains, the domains are separated into ordered and unordered systems (Snowden, 2005); ordered systems are those in which there is an identifiable link between cause and effect that when discovered allows us to control the future. The unordered systems are those where the relationship between cause and effect do not repeat except by accident, where too many agents interacting prevent predictive models, but where it is sometimes possible to control starting conditions and monitor emergent patterns.

The domains are: simple, complicated, chaotic and complex domain. They are well explained by Dave Snowden himself in the next video:

Many companies around the world have applied the Cynefin framework in order to enhance communication and help managers and leaders to understand the context in which they are operating. For example, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has used it to counterterrorism. Also pharmaceutical companies have applied it to develop a new product strategy. Another example is a Canadian provincial government which used it to assist in its efforts to engage employees in policy making (Snowden et al., 2007)

Bibliography:

O’Neill, Louisa-Jayne (2004). "Faith and decision-making in the Bush presidency: The God elephant in the middle of America’s livingroom". Emergence: Complexity and Organisation 6 (1/2): 149-156.

Kurtz, C. F. and Snowden, D. J. (2003). “The new dynamics of strategy: Sense–making in a complex and complicated world,” IBM Systems Journal, ISSN 0018-8670, 42(3): 462-483.

Snowden, D. J. (2005). Multi-ontology sensemaking—a new simplicity in decision making. Informatics in Primary Care, 13, 45–54

Snowden, David J., Boone, Mary E.,. (2007). A Leader's Framework for Decision Making. Harvard Business Review,. 85 (11)

Ladies and gentleman… Introducing to you… Knowledge Management Systems

In my Knowledge Management and Information Systems Strategy class, our teacher asked us to search and come up with a definition of Knowledge Management.  I found and read a lot of good definitions but the one I’m keeping it is this one: “Knowledge Management is the process of capturing, distributing and effectively using knowledge”

The next video gives us a 3 minutes definition of what is and why Knowledge Management.




So now, why is it important to use Knowledge Management?
Well, we live in a global world where we are more connected and interdependent. As a company, we need to be aware of the competence around us, we need to add value to our resources.

The purpose of knowledge management is to be able to create, transfer and apply knowledge with the purpose of better achieving objectives.

With an effective knowledge management in our company, we reduce the tendency of making the same mistakes all over again, and by reducing that, we are also reducing costs and adding more efficiency. This adds more quality and value to our services and products!

Moreover, with knowledge management, we have a system that gives us a fast and efficient access to our costumer, employee and industry needs. This helps to improve the relationships between them and the company.

Many companies and industries are using Knowledge Management Systems nowadays. Here is a brief example of the US Army in a video


Army Knowledge Management from John Harrington on Vimeo.


So, we have talked about what and why Knowledge Management.However, there is another issue. While introducing Knowledge Management in a company, we can face some barriers.  Here is an explanation video where Chris Collison, describes some of the syndromes which prevent knowledge-sharing in organisations.








Finally, I am leaving you a powerpoint presentation from HP Company. It gives a complete explanation of what, how and why Knowledge Management in the company. It focuses on the points of creation, sharing and reuse knowledge in order to gain value and increase quality. You should totally check it out!

Knowledge Management In The Real World from Stan Garfield

Sooo... What is this RFID ?

Well, I really must say how interesting it was to know and learn about the RFID Technology in my Knowledge Management and Information Systems Strategy class.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and it’s a technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object.

Yeah, I know most of the people won’t understand but the truth is that RFID is already changing all the retail and supply chain industries and many more. Even it is ready to change our daily life. Here is an interesting prototype, MY Fridge. It deals with the process of food management in a futuristic scenario where RFID tags are printable. In this scenario, the data stored on the RFID tags is put at the users' disposal by an interactive terminal.

We all know or we all are some way familiar with the bar codes technology. As bar codes, RFID is a data collection technology, they both automate the process of collecting data. BUT they are not the same. They have plenty of differences such as: RFID tags can be read at greater distances, RFID readers are much faster than barcodes readers, RFID reader can communicate with the tag and alter information, and barcodes don’t have that capability. Also RFID is as expected, much more expensive than barcodes technology. Here is another cool video about RFID technology.



In class we saw and discussed many cases of companies that are already using RFID technology and changing all the industry, especially the fashion industry that attracted me more. So here we go, The Interactive Mirror ! This cool gadget shows you more information about articles which are anticipated with RFID. You can see which sizes and colors are in stock and you can order them through the mirror at the shop-assistent.