Manufacturing practices abound at Agile conferences but is software something that comes of a production line (albeit in small batch sizes)? Should we instead think of software development as a service? Can we combine unarticulated customer needs with novel technology to shift the business forward rather than simply respond to demand? Should we see applications as emergent properties of complex interactions between people and software objects over time? What sort of ecosystem (rather than architecture) is needed for such an approach? Using the popular Cynefin framework as a starting point, its creator will explore these questions.

1. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
EVERY CORPSE ON EVEREST WAS ONCE AN
EXTREMELY MOTIVATED PERSON, HIGHLY
ENGAGED WITH INSPIRED LEADERS

2. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
COMPLEXITY,
CONTEXT &
COLLABORATION
AGILE BOSNIA 2016
"THATCHERISM
WREAKED THE MOST
HEINOUS, SOCIAL,
ECONOMIC AND
SPIRITUAL DAMAGE
UPON THIS COUNTRY”
GLENDA JACKSON MP 11TH APRIL 2013

3. Material in this presentation is either Copyright © 2016 Bangor University or Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd.. All Rights Reserved. Protected in part by copyright, patent and trademark and other law
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
CONSTRAINTS, COHERENCE &
FRACTAL REPRESENTATION
▸ Constraints can contain or couple
identities and 'objects'
▸ Context free & context specific
▸ They can be rigid, elastic, loose,
permeable, mutating or 'dark'
▸ Coherence is a key concept in
philosophy of science linked to my
definition of sense-making ...
▸ ... how do we make sense of the
world so that we can act in it

4. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
CYNEFIN A SENSE-MAKING FRAMEWORK
Complicated
Governing constraints
sense-analyse-respond
Good Practice
Obvious
Rigid constraints
sense-categorise-respond
Best Practice
Chaotic
Absence of constraints
act-sense-respond
Novel Practice
Complex
Enabling constraints
probe-sense-respond
Emergent Practice
Making sense
of the world in
order to act in it
We can map
dispositions and
propensities

5. Material in this presentation is either Copyright © 2016 Bangor University or Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd..
All Rights Reserved. Protected in part by copyright, patent and trademark and other law
TO THE ABSTRACT
& SYMBOLIC …
MAKING SENSE OF THE
WORLD IN ORDER TO ACT IN IT

6. Material in this presentation is either Copyright © 2016 Bangor University or Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd.. All Rights Reserved. Protected in part by copyright, patent and trademark and other law
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
HIGH ABSTRACTION, HUMAN METADATA
DESCRIPTIVE NOT EVALUATIVE SOURCE DATA
Acting intuitively, instantly
The situation
was analysed
logically
People thought deeply
and made decisions
based on principles

7. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
FITNESS LANDSCAPES FOR DISCOVERY & SEARCH
0 20 40 60 80 100
020406080100
Doing it Right
Anintensedrivetoachieve
0 20 40 60 80 100
020406080100
Doing it Right
Welldefinedprocessesandprocedures

8. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
FRACTAL INSIGHT & THE SEE-ATTEND-ACT PRINCIPLE
20 40 60 80 100
020406080
Doing it Right
Anintensedrivetoachieve
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
20406080100
Over the top stressful
Pressurefrommanagement
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
020406080100
Over the top stressful
Pressurefrommanagement
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
020406080100
Over the top stressful
Pressurefromself
0 20 40 60 80 100
020406080100
Self Imposed
Anintensedrivetoachieve
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.00.20.40.60.81.0
Freedom too far
Deadlinestoofar

9. 24radiologistswereaskedtoperforma
familiarlungnoduledetectiontask.
Apictureofagorilla,48timeslargerthan
theaveragenodule,wasinsertedinthe
lastcase.
83%ofradiologistsdidnotseethegorilla.
Eye-trackingshowedthatthemajorityof
thethosewhomissedthegorillalooked
directlyatit
Drew, Vo & Wolfe
Psychol Sci. Sep 2013; 24(9): 1848–1853

10. Material in this presentation is either Copyright © 2016 Bangor University or Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd.. All Rights Reserved. Protected in part by copyright, patent and trademark and other law
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
REAL TIME DECISION SUPPORT AND NEED IDENTIFICATION
20 40 60 80 100
020406080
Doing it Right
Anintensedrivetoachieve
0 20 40 60 80 100
020406080100
Self Imposed
Anintensedrivetoachieve

11. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201
THE CYNEFIN CENTRE: NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
CYNEFIN A SENSE-MAKING FRAMEWORK
Most techniques
are coherent in
context
Emergent URC,
mutation etc
Scrum
Timeboxes,
backlog, release
protocols etc.
Waterfall
modified
Anticipatory
alerts to initiate
crisis prevention
... but some are
plain wrong ...
... and a few are
pyramid selling
schemes

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13. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Edge. All Rights Reserved. US Pat. 8,031,201