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Dave Snowden, the well-known if not iconic figure known to most everyone who attends KMWorld, finished off this year’s KMWorld conference with a three-hour session which introduced (or further familiarized) attendees with the Cynefin model and Cognitive Edge methodologies for addressing complexity.

Dave instructed participants to sit at round tables, in groups of approximately 6 people, evening things out.  He noted that there were several CE practitioners in the room as well, and asked us (I am one of them) to ensure that we were evenly distributed around the room so that we could help if and when any table ran into the need for additional clarification, etc. (though in my case, it’s just as likely that I would add more confusion than clarity to the group’s understanding of the issue or the methods).

Dave then asked each group to come up with:

• the three key learnings that they have taken away from this year’s KMWorld conference, and
• three key challenges to organizations that stem from those learnings
• a proposal for addressing those challenges that they would present to a fictitious senior management team

(I may not have those key tasks articulated quite correctly, as I am writing this post a day and a half after the session and I am relying on my memory).

After completing that first task, Dave asked a representative from each group to move to the next table and present the proposal to the fictitious management team sitting at that table, and then apply the Cognitive Edge method known as Ritual Dissent (the person presenting the idea sits with their back to the table whilst the group attacks the idea as savagely as possible, tearing it down from as many angles as possible).

The rest of the session was essentially several more rounds of this exercise, with brief theory bursts about corporate anthropology (ably supported by Beth Meriam, who has helped Dave on the Children of the World project) and use of the Cognitive Edge method interspersed between these rounds of the exercise.

The session was effective at demonstrating in a brief manner the key tenets of the Cynefin model and some of the core concepts of the Cognitive Edge methodology.

A good time was had by all.

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