Cynefin Framework
A conceptual framework used to aid decision-making. Described as a "sense-making device", Cynefin offers five decision-making contexts or 'domains'— obvious, complicated, complex, chaotic, and disorder—that help managers to identify how they perceive situations and make sense of their own and other people's behavior.
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Origin
Created in 1999 by Dave Snowden while working at IBM Global Services to help manage intellectual capital. Cynefin is a Welsh word meaning 'the place of your multiple belongings,' evoking the idea that decisions are shaped by environments we can never fully understand. Snowden later founded his own consultancy, Cognitive Edge, to further develop the framework.
Updated February 22, 2026