www.luxoft.com CYNEFIN SENSE-MAKING FRAMEWORK AND USAGE EXAMPLES Agile Practice 23.12.2015
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CYNEFIN SENSE-MAKING FRAMEWORK AND USAGE EXAMPLES
Agile Practice23.12.2015
www.luxoft.com
Maksim Gaponov – Agile/Lean Coach
Experience10+ years in IT. Developer background and management experience as a team lead, project manager, product manager and CTO. Worked both in large companies and smaller start-ups. Over 7 years of Agile experience, Maksim is an seasoned coach, trainer and speaker at various conferences, including AgileDays.
Certificates Member of Scrum Alliance, Certified Scrum Product Owner Member of International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile), ICAgile
Certified Professional, ICP-Business Value Analysis, ICP-Agile Coaching, ICAgile accredited trainer
Member of Scrum.org, Professional Scrum Master (PSM I)
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CYNEFIN SENSE-MAKING FRAMEWORK
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What is sense-making?
“Sense-making is how do we make sense of the world so we can act in it.
If you can't draw a framework on the back off a table napkin from memory it has little utility for sense-making”
Dave Snowden
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Let’s describe the current state of things fistrly
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Complex Adaptive Systems
Understanding through constraints: Order: fully constrained; predictable
& repeatable outcomes Chaos: random, unconstrained,
difficult to create or sustain Complex: system partially
constrains behaviour, but behaviour modifies constraint
The inherent uncertainty of a complex systems means we have to navigate a fitness landscape of possibilities
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Let’s take away and map ordered ones
Understanding through constraints: Order: fully constrained; predictable
& repeatable outcomes Chaos: random, unconstrained,
difficult to create or sustain Complex: system partially
constrains behaviour, but behaviour modifies constraint
The inherent uncertainty of a complex systems means we have to navigate a fitness landscape of possibilities
www.luxoft.com
Now let’s take away the chaotic ones
Understanding through constraints: Order: fully constrained; predictable
& repeatable outcomes Chaos: random, unconstrained,
difficult to create or sustain Complex: system partially
constrains behaviour, but behaviour modifies constraint
The inherent uncertainty of a complex systems means we have to navigate a fitness landscape of possibilities
www.luxoft.com
Finally let’s take away the ones falling into complex description Understanding through constraints: Order: fully constrained; predictable
& repeatable outcomes Chaos: random, unconstrained,
difficult to create or sustain Complex: system partially
constrains behaviour, but behaviour modifies constraint
The inherent uncertainty of a complex systems means we have to navigate a fitness landscape of possibilities
www.luxoft.com
We’re spending most of our time in Complex domain Highly sensitive to small changes
(weak signals too easily dismissed) Granularity, gradient & enabling
constraints Proximity & connectivity are key Shift from fail-safe design to multiple
contradictory safe-to-fail experiments to avoid premature convergence
Avoid confusing correlation with causation or simulation with prediction
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Obvious domain
Nature
Known knowns
Familiar, certain, well worn pathwaysConstraints self-evident to allStable within universal constraints
Self evident solutions
ResponseSense-Categorize-
Respond Ensure sound process in placeMonitor for noncompliance & deviance
Test for complacency
Protect some pet mavericks
Preparation
Watch for outliers
Usable process
Right support people for key staffAutomate, but no automataAnonymous appeal/whistle blowers
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Complicated domain
Nature
Known unknowns
Ordered, predictable, forecastableConstraints evident and enforceable
Stable within constraints
Evidence susceptible of analysis
ResponseSense-Analyze-
RespondDetermine experts or process to resolveManage & enforce processMonitor effectiveness of constraintsFocus on exploitation not exploration
PreparationRight people &
process, right timeProcess engineering with feedbackDiversity of experts in networkSound Analytical practiceStand aside but stay in touch
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Chaotic domain
NatureUnknowable unknowns
Temporary state - no timeNo evidence of any constraintHigh turbulence no patterns Old certainties no longer apply
Response
Act-Sense-Respond
Speed of authoritative response vital Follow and enforce heuristicsFocus on constraints not solutionUse the opportunity to innovate
PreparationEstablish heuristics
& Parables
Human sensor networks
Crews as crisis management teamsSimulation games for key managers Multi-perspective dissent feedback
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Complex domain
NatureUnknown
unknowns Messily coherent, patterns discerniblePartial changing constraints
Flux within stabilities
Evidence supports contradiction
ResponseProbe-Sense-
RespondMonitor safe-to fail experimentsAll contradiction within heuristicsFlex constraints to manage emergence Agility key to amplification/dampening
PreparationCreate time and
space for reflectionHuman sensor networks operationalSocial network stimulation & the like to create networks Scenario planning (inc. micro)Build and monitor ‘requisite diversity’
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Making sense of the world to act in itThere are three basic types of system: ordered, complex and chaotic.
Complex systems have propensities and dispositions but no linear material cause
In Cynefin order is divided into ‘obvious’ & complicated and the fifth domain) disorder.
The boundary between Obvious and Chaotic is shown as a cliff, or a catastrophic failure arising from complacency.
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SPLITTING USER STORIES
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Using Cynefin for User Story splitting Obvious – Just build it. Or, if it’s too
big, find all the stories, and do the most valuable ones first.
Complicated – Find all the stories, and do the most valuable and/or most risky ones first.
Complex – Don’t try to find all the stories. Find one or two that will provide some value and teach you something about the problem and solution, build those and use what you learn to find the rest.
Chaotic – Put out the fire; splitting stories probably isn’t important right now.
Disordered – Figure out which domain you’re in before splitting so you don’t take the wrong approach.
Richard Lawrence, http://www.agileforall.com/2014/08/cynefin-and-story-splitting/
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RETROSPECTIVES
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Using Cynefin on Retrospectives Obvious – just implement these
improvements, add them to working agreements
Complicated – find experts in your environment or internal/external consultants, ask them to help you
Complex – brainstorm a set of small and time-bound experiments, find a way to measure outcomes, implement them
Chaotic – distribute knowledge and wait some time until the issue transitions into a complex domain
Disordered – brake these down until they start falling into one of domains
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COLLABORATION WITH COMPANY ENVIRONMENT
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Interventions in the complex domain
Each intervention should be coherent safe-to-fail Finely grained, tangible
Overall the portfolio should contain some that are oblique in nature include “naive” approaches a few high risk/high return options
Contradictions are good!
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Upcoming Agile Practice webinars
Metrics that bring valueJanuary 14, 2016Svetlana Mukhina
User Story CanvasJanuary 26, 2016Maksim Gaponov
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