OrgDev with Distinction Understanding Complexity with Dave Snowden - OrgDev Episode 92
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Feb 13, 2026 
Dave Snowden, founder of The Cynefin Company and creator of the Cynefin framework, unpacks complexity, distributed knowledge and organisational decision-making. He explores safe-to-fail probes, coherence testing and estuarine mapping. Conversations cover epistemic justice, AI risks, role-based adaptive structures and methods to surface weak signals and emergent behaviour in organisations.
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Use Rapid Workforce Iterations
- Present problems to the whole workforce and run rapid iterations to surface consensus and outliers.
- Use short cycles to find viable options in days instead of months.
IBM’s Hidden Space For Experimentation
- Dave describes how IBM’s lack of transparency allowed experimentation while bureaucracy stayed hidden.
- He credits IBM for enabling risky work that would be impossible as a standalone firm.
Run Many Small Safe-To-Fail Probes
- Run multiple small, parallel probes that are safe to fail to test coherent ideas.
- Fund a handful of probes briefly and scale what proves viable rather than betting on one plan.