If You’re Not Doing Iterative Work, Why Are You Still Using Scrum?

Scrum can be a very effective framework when used for product development. With its many built in feedback loops the team can more quickly zero in on the correct functionality. They can target what is most valuable using feedback from customers, users, stakeholders and others.

But Scrum might not be the best option for all types of work.

Introducing Cynefin

Around the year 2000, Dave Snowden introduced what he called the Cynefin (kuh-NEV-in) Framework. Cynefin is a Welsh word that loosely translates to “habitat”. In our context, Cynefin can be thought of as a “sense-making” framework. How do we think about, or interpret, our work “habitat”?

The Cynefin Framework describes 5 domains, each of which contains a process of making decisions within that space.

A full description of Cynefin is beyond the scope of this article. For a deeper dive, click on the image below. I’ll keep it high level here.

The five domains in Cynefin are loosely defined as:

• Clear — known knowns. Both the problem and solution are well understood. This is the domain of Best Practices. An example would be automating a call tree.
• Complicated — known unknowns. There are a…