dX: Do you use Cynefin?
Me: I find it useful.
dX: Can I replace your evolution axis with ...
Me: Complex, complicated ...
dX: Yes
Me: No
dX: Why?
Let us take a map. A user has some need met by some capability for which there are three competing solutions, all at different stages of evolution in the product space ... e.g. it could be power production and micronuclear vs tidal power vs solar
Each of those competition solutions have a supply chain, which may consist of different components, some shared components etc.
In practice, for any given software capability (go talk to @girba) there maybe many components involved. Some of which have known characteristics, but not necessarily all. Often, in the best cases, it'll be a complicated structure ... I'll switch to graph format to show this.
But that was one solution, and there may be many solutions to the problem i.e. you may have many complicated solutions to a single problem and the "right" solution (if there is such a thing) is still emerging ...
... in other words, a singular "solution" described on a map maybe complicated but the problem space it exists within on that map is complex. Cynefin is a useful frame to have in the back of your mind when you are mapping and no, you can't just fit the labels to the axis.
Instead, think of them as complimentary views. Both are useful.
dX: How do you deal with these different solutions?
Me: Well, if I'm looking at where to invest, I will map out multiple perspectives of a space e.g. in gaming, I took about 70 people and mapped out perspectives such as UX to ethics to ... 7 perspectives in total ...
... I can then ask where to invest to maximise benefits for society or capital across each perspective and then aggregate across all those perspectives. There are many different ways of dealing with these issues.
Me: Sometimes those questions overlap, often far apart but it gives me an idea of where to explore. Where to map.
dX: When do you stop?
Me: When the group feels it has a useful enough handle on the space to make informed choices. For an industry that can take a few dozen hours.
dX: But how do you make the choice?
Me: Discussion, application of patterns (such as climatic), scenario planning ... all of this stuff can happen rapidly with a group with good awareness of the space. There are also frameworks like Estuarine mapping which look useful.
dX: Mapping is hard.
Me: Well, mapping begins with some pretty basic and simple tasks like understanding your users, their needs, the components involved, the chain of components, and how evolved those components are. Even those would be a huge win for many companies ...
.... after which you can use the maps to challenge what you're doing (because they provide a common language) and start exploring the right methods. There's a long list of principles to follow (the doctrine). OSOM has a nice list - ...osom.guide/doctrine/
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