Oct 4 Meeting
Free and Open to the Software Engineering & IT Community
NOTE - New Location!!! And good news - Plenty of Free Parking!!
SolutionsIQ. 10785 Willows Rd NE, Suite 250, Redmond, WA [Map]
Food & networking from 5:45 to 6:15 (pizza, salad, soda )
Announcements from 6:15 to 6:30
Presentation from 6:30 to 7:45
Q & A from 7:45 to 8:15
Doors close at 8:30
Using the Cynefin Framework to Make Sense of it All
by Steve Holt
It’s almost inevitable that experts and practitioners will get into “tool wars.” We’ve all run into arguments about whose method should be used to solve a problem. The thing is that all the people involved can almost always point to past successes. It’s not a simple case of “this is right and that is wrong.” But if everyone’s favorite method has a track record of successes (and probably some failures) how can we figure out which one we should use? That sort of question calls for sense making, that is, although we can never have all the information we want, we can make enough sense of what’s going on in the world so that we can act appropriately.
One practical approach to sensemaking is through the Cynefin Framework. Cynefin is the invention of David Snowden and compatriots initially at IBM and now at Cognitive Edge. This presentation will give an overview of the Cynefin Framework, how to use it to get a sense of what’s going on, and how the context of the situation influences which methods and tools may be more or less successful in any given situation. The Cynefin Framework can help us see, for instance, in what situations Agile methods are better and in what situations things like Waterfall methods are better. We can see how different Agile methods may also be a better match in some situations than others. The Cynefin Framework provides a useful and practical way to view the world and can help us be more successful, no matter which methods we prefer.
Bio
Steve Holt works for a large local aerospace company where he’s been involved in process improvement and the management of complex systems for many years. He has a background in several improvement methods, including Theory of Constraints and has been involved in several Critical Chain Project Management implementations as well as local Kaizen type implementations and is currently working on combining the two. He holds accreditations from both the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization and Cognitive Edge.
You can join SeaSpin at LinkedIn
SeaSpin is coordinated by Jeff Smith, Steven Smith, and Pamela Perrott. The officers are:
- Chair: Jeff Smith (contact)
- Program Chair: Steven M. Smith
The SeaSpin charter can be found here.