Summary of Dave Snowden: Applying Cynefin to Kanban

00:00:00 - 00:50:00

In this video, Dave Snowden discusses how the Cynefin framework can be applied to Kanban in order to improve decision-making processes. He explains that Cynefin is a code metaphor that can help to bridge the gap between engineering and user requirements, and that it is important to understand how the system is evolving and changing in order to be able to manage it successfully.

• 00:00:00 Dave Snowden discusses how Cynefin can be used to improve Kanban. He explains that Cynefin is a code metaphor that can help to bridge the gap between engineering and user requirements. He also discusses how scrum can take too many assumptions about what users want, and how a chef-based culture can help to prevent mistakes and adapt to uncertainty.
• 00:05:00 In this video, Dave Snowden discusses the concepts of exaptation and coherence. He explains that, in order to manage for exaptation, you must deliberately create a level of uncertainty and networked interaction in your IT communities which are traditionally hostile to such behavior. He goes on to say that, when it comes to understanding user requirements at the early stages of major projects, some ideas will be coherent and some will be incoherent, and that determining which are coherent to which are incoherent is important. Finally, he discusses the concepts of complexity and normality, and how they can be used todefine systems.
• 00:10:00 Dave Snowden discusses the concept of a complex adaptive system, which is a system in which small changes can have massive effects. He explains that this is a metaphor for a round table at which there are electromagnets, some of which he controls and some of which are controlled by people he knows. He warns that if the magnets change in strength and polarity, the pattern of ball bearings will become unstable. He recommends that designers focus on multiple parallel safe to fail experiments in order to manage a complex adaptive system.
• 00:15:00 Dave Snowden discusses the importance of shifting from failsafe design to multiple parallel contradictory safety feared experimentation when dealing with high levels of uncertainty. This approach is more effective and cheaper than traditional design methods.
• 00:20:00 In this video, Dave Snowden discusses the application of Cynefin to kanban. He states that there is a trend in the agile community to say that one's method is more complex than another's, and that this leads to debates about which method is better. Snowden points out that Cynefin is a framework that can be applied to any type of system, and that it is important to understand how the system is evolving and changing in order to be able to manage it successfully. Finally, Snowden warns against complacency, and urges managers to be constantly vigilant and to constantly be exploring and exploiting the potential of their system.
• 00:25:00 Dave Snowden discusses the need for a new way of thinking about applications, which he refers to as "applications as emergent properties of objects within architectures interacting with people as the interaction of software objects with people within robust art within resilient architectures that allows novel or new applications to emerge." He goes on to say that the traditional model of design, in which applications are designed in isolation from their surrounding environment, is no longer practical in today's technological age, and that fractal models of design are a better way to communicate strategic content.
• 00:30:00 Dave Snowden discusses the Cynefin framework, which is designed to help people think more systematically about complex problems. The framework has three axes: consensus, evidence, and challenge. Leaders should use these axes to determine when an idea is strong enough to be accepted by the wider community, and when further research is needed. If an idea is over on one axis, it is a sign that it is not ready to be accepted. Leaders should break up teams when an idea is over on all three axes, and bring in different people to challenge the idea.
• 00:35:00 Dave Snowden discusses the application of Cynefin to Kanban, a tool for managing product development. He argues that a safe, fair, and pragmatic approach is necessary before moving into a formal scrum process. He also discusses the need for a portfolio of experiments, composed of both high-risk and high-return endeavors, in order to increase the chances of success.
• 00:40:00 Dave Snowden discusses the concept of distributed ethnography, which is a process used to observe people in work. He goes on to say that, while it is a useful tool, it should not be overused due to its limitations. Snowden then provides an example of how distributed ethnography can be used in an IT setting to index and interpret user stories.
• 00:45:00 Dave Snowden discusses how technology can help practitioners apply Cynefin to kanban. He discusses how Cynefin can help practitioners track the impact of their systems on user stories, and how this can lead to greater innovation. He also discusses how deliberate ambiguity can help practitioners hold ambiguous data at a level where it can be analyzed and patterns detected.
• 00:50:00 Dave Snowden discusses the importance of understanding the complexity of systems, and how it can be applied to Kanban. He goes on to discuss the Conniving Framework, which is a model for understanding how different systems work together. He discusses how complexity thinking can be used to improve decision-making processes.