Create a reflection blog based on critically thinking about how
the Cynefin Framework can benefit your decision-making. Consider the chart on
page 7 of the HBR article "A Leader's Framework for Decision Making"
and discuss decision-making in multiple contexts; include two specific examples
of decisions in multiple contexts that you have made. Detail the considerations
from the various contexts that influenced your decision. Critically assess the
Cynefin Framework and describe 5 ways it can provide an improved context for
decision making.
The importance of decisions these
days relies on the ability of leaders to not just view the problems or
situations that may occur but be able to assess how to effectively deal with
the situations with stride and make decisions that are efficient and
substantial. Without the ability to effectively maneuver through the obstacles
of problematic decision making, leaders would be unable to shift their management
styles to the necessary context in order to make the decisions that are
flexible and adaptable.
One day while at work, I received a
phone call from a student who was livid. As I picked up the call I wasn’t even
sure who I was speaking with as the student refused to provide me with his
information but instead nailed all his anger into me as if I was the one who
had deliberately tried to hurt him in any way. As I spoke to the student I had
to fight tooth and nail just to get any information out of him. He was extremely
unhappy and he wanted me to know it. I had no idea why but I knew that in order
to get this call under control, I would have to investigate a whole lot to get
the information I needed and the answers he was looking for. I spent about 15
minutes just letting the student vent. I let him call me every name in the book
and allowed him to inform me what he really thought about our University. It
was interesting to hear how much he “couldn’t stand” our University and why he regretted
even thinking to come to Embry-Riddle.
After he was done venting I began to calm him down
and started to ask him some questions to which he had started to answer. I was
able to verify that he had spoken with someone in another department who had
informed him of the wrong information and was accidentally copied on an email
that stated that his graduation advisor “didn’t speak to students.” This is the
information that had made him so angry. I spoke to the gentleman for about an
hour and informed him that I was here to help in any way that I could and spoke
with the advisor who accidentally copied him on that last email. She spoke with
him and apologized, as he had misinterpreted her email. The student left happy
however the process to get him to that point was extensive.
Another situation I experienced happened just this
past weekend. My husband and I had just bid on a house this past weekend. Every
weekend for the past month including weekdays as well, we were looking for
homes. The process was debilitating. Last weekend we thought we had finally found
the right house and placed a bid on what we thought was a great offer. The
seller met us in the middle and we immediately agreed to the offer. We also
offered to pay closing costs without question however after looking over the
contract we noticed that the seller had listed that he would not offer home
warranty. The back and forth of the contract was exhausting.
We thought for two days on whether or not we should
move forward with the plan. We figured since he met us in the middle we could
try and do the same and suggested that everything was a go except the home
warranty insurance. We suggested he pay the home warranty for one year’s time
not to exceed the amount of $485.00. We thought it was a great offer and that
the buyer would have no reason not to accept it. We were wrong. My realtor
called us back the next day and informed us that the seller had rejected the
offer as we had included the home warranty in the contract and that was not
something he was willing to pay. He had just been made an offer for more than
what we had agreed to pay and it was a cash offer. We had lost the house and we
were seriously disappointed. I couldn’t believe how far we had come and how
quickly we lost everything. The process had taken so long that I think the time
and effort put into searching for the home was what bothered us the most. We
were at a loss. We would have been closing on our dream home next month and
instead we were stuck in our apartment for who knew how long before finding out
other dream home.
The decisions I had made in the above two examples
seemed like easy fixes at first, but when looking into the detail of the issues
it was apparent that they included all contexts of the Cynefin framework.
Problems that appear to have simple fixes can often lead to bad decisions even
if they do not appear chaotic in nature, The Cynefin framework can offer
solutions to a variety of different contexts as well as an openness to change
to provide leaders with the skills necessary to adjust their decision making
styles. Leaders who use the Cynefin framework will learn various attributes
such as sense, categorization and response as well as increase their extensive
analytical skills. They will also learn the ability to steer clear or move through
obstacles such as entrained thinking and analysis paralysis. The use of the
Cynefin framework offers leaders the capability of effective decision making
and a new approach to traditional leadership styles.
Cassandra R.
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