The Cynefin ( /ˈkʌnɨvɪn/) framework is used to describe problems, situations and systems. It provides a typology of contexts that guides what sort of explanations and/or solutions may apply. Cynefin is a Welsh word, which is commonly translated into English as 'habitat' or 'place', although this fails to convey its full meaning. A more complete translation of the word would be that it conveys the sense that we all have multiple pasts of which we can only be partly aware: cultural, religious, geographic, tribal etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin