The Cynefin Framework and Technical Competencies: a New Guideline to Act in the Complexity. Issue 1 (16th August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fierro, Davide; Putino, Stefano; Tirone, Lucio
• Is Part Of: INCOSE International Symposium. Volume 28:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 532
• Page End: 552
• Publication Date: 2018-08-16
• Subjects: Systems engineering -- Congresses; Systems engineering -- Periodicals; 620.0011
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2018.00498.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2334-5837

Abstract

Abstract: The current socio‐economical context is affected by extremely challenging factors such as the macro‐economic crisis, the globalization of markets, the exponential growth in the complexity of systems, the continuous evolution of technologies and the criticality of requirements subject to rapid and sometimes uncontrollable evolution. In such a competitive landscape the role of the future leaders gets essential. They shall be able, by means of a holistic, methodologically structured and flexible approach, to drive their programs through the implementation of the complex changes which are strategic to preserve the competitiveness. Such new leaders must be endowed with both strong technical skills, continuously trained in the key reference standards, and soft skills, useful for the strategic understanding of the evolutionary processes expressed by the markets and for the improvement of the complex relationships efficiency with the relevant stakeholders. The development and implementation of optimized technical‐managerial solutions is therefore essential, vital for the "feasibility" and competitiveness of front‐running projects, and cannot succeed without a contextual analysis of the reference scenarios. In this context the Cynefin Framework, an interpretative model of the different levels of the systems complexity, ranging from order to disorder, can provide a very effective support. The goal of this paper is to develop a multi‐faceted and comprehensive vision of the problems in the various domains of complexity, "contextualizing" the most effective management approaches and "soft and hard" skills of the leader. The paper benefits of the input received during various sessions of the second Cohort of the INCOSE Technical Leadership Institute, where precious insight and feedback has been collected, especially from the TLI coaches, Patrick Godfrey, Michael Pennotti and Don Gelosh.