Effective
leaders learn to shift their decision-making styles to match changing business
environments (Snowden & Boone, 2007). The Cynefin Framework is composed of
four quadrants (simple, complicated, complex, and chaos) that describe the
different classifications of situations in leadership. Each quadrant describes
the different ways leaders can react, act, or respond when facing certain
situations as well as what actions to take. The multiple context
decision-making process can be very challenging as it can require effective
collaboration between many parties. In this context, leaders can identify the
correct context of the situation, remain aware of danger signals as well as how
to properly respond to the danger signals in a variety of different situations.
In some situations, collaboration is difficult as it calls for rapid gathering
of information from various sources, sharing information for situational
awareness, reasoning with multiple parties, and in choosing a corrective
action.
A good
example of decision-making in multiple contexts would be training someone new
to the Starbucks and Sodexo practices. In this multiple context qualification there
is a great amount of difficulty I encounter training someone new. I, per say,
have my own methods of training new employees in all the policies and standards
of Sodexo, while training them on the procedures and drink recipes of Starbucks.
Even though I may be the one training the new employee(s), my supervisor feels
the need to have me train new employees in a different way (her way). In my
opinion, everyone has their own methods and/or procedures of training employees
but just because those methods work best for them does not necessarily mean it
will be as effective and efficient with me. In addition to this, I believe
every employee has a different rate of learning or of comprehending things
during training. Some employees may be more alert and are able to comprehend
things a lot quicker, while other employees may need more time, dedication,
and/or extended time of training.
Since I
have this deeper understanding of training and how to effectively train employees,
I feel as I can take advice from my supervisor on her methods of training but I
cannot actually conduct training that way. I find it difficult to get others to
understand the procedures and recipes of the store. Since the results of the
training program can greatly impact our customer service ratings, it’s
important for me to follow my own methods of training and adjust them as the
training progresses. After reflecting on the situation and my understanding of
the Cynefin Framework, I find that in the simple (known) quadrant are the
policies, standards, procedures, and recipes of both companies. But, on the
complicated (knowable) quadrant there would be the required training of all
employees as well the different effective and efficient methods of training.
The second example of decision-making in multiple contexts
is during business peak demands. Due to the nature of our business on a campus,
there are certain times of the day that we are busier compared to the rest of
the day. During times of peak demands, it is important for every employee to be
on the main floor of the store-serving customers. At times, there seems to be
far more demand for coffee than what we can supply. Therefore, this changes the
situation from simple, routine procedures to total chaos within seconds.
Employees begin to feel overwhelm by the situation because it feels like a never-ending
business demand. Since situations like these seem to happen while I step-out of
the store, when I step back into the store I quickly act on the situation.
Rather than waiting for my supervisor to give me instructions on which position
to get into, I make a quick glance on what position needs support the most and
provide that support until demand decreases once more. The key point of this
type of situation, is to provide as much support as possible to the positions
needed, change positions as needed, and try to regain the calmness of regular
business demands by following the standards and procedures set out by the
company.
There
are many ways the Cynefin Framework can provide context for improved
decision-making. One of the first suggestions is ensuring that proper
standards, procedures, and practices are properly processed in place in-order
to avoid further issues or problems within the quadrant. The second suggestion
is not to decided that the situation is in a specific quadrant because you
believe it is or because of personal preferences. Seek the help of others,
including experts. If this is not a time-sensitive issue, try to reflect on the
situation and seek which quadrant best describes the issue and situation. The
third suggestion is to not obsess over finding relations between cause and
effect that are not present. Other than this being a time-waster, it also
creates more conflict between the leader and the followers/experts, which may
delay productive ideas or respond time. The fourth suggestion is to listen to
conflicting advice. Sometimes getting a lot of people with different
backgrounds together in the hopes of reaching a solution brings creative ideas
and innovative ways to conflict resolution. The last suggestion is to have open
discussions with those directly and indirectly involved. Open discussions helps:
get the creative fluids running, to clearly define the problem, and ultimately,
to find new creative and innovative ways to solve the issues.
Source:
Snowden,
D. J., Boone M. A. - A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making, Harvard
Business Review, November 2007.
