How do we design for resilience and beyond? Part 2


“They’re coming to us saying, ‘What are we supposed to do?’ And I want to tell them, ‘I have no idea!’ But of course I can’t say that.”

Those words were shared with me earlier today by someone from outside of the education world, but they could easily have been spoken by a Head of School, Division Director, or other school leader. “They” might refer to the faculty / staff, parents, or even students.

The Cynefin Framework was developed by Dave Snowden as a way of understanding the different challenges and opportunities of different operating environments.

The Cynefin Framework was developed by Dave Snowden as a way of understanding the different challenges and opportunities of different operating environments.

If our organizations are to achieve resilience and beyond, we first need to recognize that we have moved from the realm of the complicated to the realm of the irreducibly complex.

In a complex environment, nobody has the answers. But smart organizations will “probe”—that is, experiment—so that they can create emerging answers.

Resilience in a complex post-COVID-19 world is going to look different than it did in a complicated pre-COVID-19 world.

Want to learn more? Join the conversation hosted by ADVIS tomorrow, May 14, 1 - 2:15 pm ET.

Do the people who make up your organization understand what a complex environment demands?

Are they prepared?

Who among them are out there probing so that they can create emerging answers to the new problems?

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Christian Talbot