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snowded.bsky.social

@snowded.bsky.social
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 2h
We had a website outage yesterday, so we switched to a backup, and my post on using Dostoevsky's novels to teach philosophy was lost. I only had a rough draft in Pages; the final version had been written on the site, so I had to recreate it. The first of a series. thecynefin.co/philosophy-t...
thecynefin.co
Philosophy through novels: Dostoevsky - The Cynefin Co
Twice two makes four is no longer life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death. Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground I’ve mentioned before that my
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I promised a series on using novels and other aesthetic forms, as the basis for a Philosophy undergraduate degree and here is the first, using the novels of Dostoevsky thecynefin.co/novels-for-p...
thecynefin.co
Novels for Philosophy: Dostoevsky - The Cynefin Co
But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." Luke 15:20 (KJV) In my last
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Why it may be time to move on from holons, and what the estuary offers in their place: a middle position between Whitehead's lure and Latour's flatness and introducing a series on the use of the novel to teach and, more importantly, practice philosophy. thecynefin.co/neither-cave...
thecynefin.co
Neither cave nor plain - The Cynefin Co
The arrogant claim in some aspects of systems thinking, to claim that the Systems Thinker is able to see both the trees and the forest, is, after all, (in
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Second post from our guest blogger Maritina Dimopoulou this time on Tensegrity, Lotus and a pair of chocolate-coloured suede boots (Elvis fans should not get excited) thecynefin.co/tensegrity-l...
thecynefin.co
Tensegrity & Lotus part 1 - The Cynefin Co
Places a Pair of Suede Boots Can Take You: Tensegrity, Lotus, and the invisible structure of organisations  Last winter I bought a pair of
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'm pleased to welcome our guest blogger for the week Maritina Dimopoulou. In this first of three posts, she addresses the key question of salience. The Cynefin Company thecynefin.co/on-salience/
thecynefin.co
On Salience  - The Cynefin Co
I'm pleased to welcome our latest Guest Blogger, Maritina Dimopoulou. In her own words, she is a clinical pharmacist by training. She spent two decades in
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Autumn Equinox is here so I've published the becoming traditional summary of the last quarter's blog posts thecynefin.co/at-the-autum...
thecynefin.co
At the autumn equinox - The Cynefin Co
The equinox does not pause the wheel; it only marks where it turns in the spirit of Heraclitus A summary of posts since the summer solstice of 2026 The
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'm starting to pull a set of posts that define anthro-complexity & position it against other approaches. This one on Practice Theory also links to the whole series, which I will soon consolidate into a booklet: the provisional section two of 'The Book'. thecynefin.co/practice-the...
thecynefin.co
Practice Theory and Anthro-complexity: - The Cynefin Co
Leopards break into the temple and drink dry the sacrificial vessels; this happens again and again; in the end it can be predicted, and it becomes part of
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Completing the somewhat ad hoc series on the misappropriation & misuse of the 'complexity' word. thecynefin.co/old-wine-new...
thecynefin.co
Old Wine, New Wineskins - The Cynefin Co
"And no man putteth new wine into old wineskins, else the new wine doth burst the skins, and the wine is spilled and the skins will be marred. But new
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It is Glyndŵr's day in Cymru (Wales) and in celebration today's post looks at a key aspect of democracy through the lives of three Welsh princes and two Welsh politicians. thecynefin.co/damned-magic...
thecynefin.co
Damned Magician - The Cynefin Co
No fifteenth-century bard wrote Owain Glyndŵr a marwnad. He simply vanished after 1415, and the poets who came after him, Lewys Glyn Cothi among them,
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Another post in the use and abuse of the 'complexity' word series , this time a response to an earlier post by Benjamin P. Taylor. This looks at the question of matching or emergent repertoires and contrasts complexity with cybernetics.: thecynefin.co/an-inhibitin...
thecynefin.co
Matching repertoires - The Cynefin Co
"What is your aim in philosophy? To shew the fly the way out of the fly-bottle." Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, §309 Benjamin Taylor posted
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A reflection on Daniel Monroy's reflection on my field guide to epistemic parasites, setting the scene for a follow-up piece or two on other forms of parasitism. thecynefin.co/testing-for-...
thecynefin.co
Testing for parasites - The Cynefin Co
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out. Robert Frost, "Mending Wall" The bridge above is a packhorse bridge at the
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
13th October 1600 to 1800 or later UK time, Anna and I are organising a meetup for Cynefin Members to look at complexity theory through the lens of science fiction and fantasy (and vice versa) thecynefin.co/memberships/
thecynefin.co
Memberships - The Cynefin Co
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The events of 911 are very much a part of the origin story of TheCynefinCo. Here is my brief reflection on the 25th anniversary, with a link to a longer post I wrote on the 20th. thecynefin.co/25-years-on/
thecynefin.co
25 years on - The Cynefin Co
The worst is not So long as we can say 'This is the worst.' King Lear, Act IV, Scene 1 Five years ago, on the twentieth anniversary, I wrote about the
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Third post in the cognitive outsourcing series, and this may be one of the most important things I have written in the last year, although it's early days. The analogue advantage over the digital is the theme: thecynefin.co/cognitive-ou...
thecynefin.co
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Second post in the cognitive outsourcing series, this time looking at one aspect of neuro-diversity thecynefin.co/cognitive-ou...
thecynefin.co
Cognitive outsourcing 2/3: legiblity - The Cynefin Co
“Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.” — William James, Principles of Psychology, 1890 The obvious
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
First of a three-part series on Cognitive Outsourcing: one of the dangers and possible benefits of AI adoption. Here, I examine the trade-offs in cognitive development and some of the consequences. thecynefin.co/cognitive-ou...
thecynefin.co
Cognitive outsourcing 1/3: the trade - The Cynefin Co
The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy." — William James, Talks to Teachers, 1899 Adult
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Monday AM, I will share a platform with Sarah Freiesleben in London. Her new book and mine on where & when AI works, its use and abuse, will be the subject. I will go into the salience-sapience-sentience work as an overlay onto Estuarine Mapping And it's free: www.mannaz.com/en/inspirati...
mannaz.com
Beyond the algorithm
How leaders make wise decisions when humans and machines think together.
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"There is no effing elephant" the first of two responses to a recent LinkedIn thread thecynefin.co/there-is-no-...
thecynefin.co
THERE IS NO EFFING ELEPHANT - The Cynefin Co
Who is the genius who can see the whole and knows it is an elephant? And if there is no such genius? How do we know that there is an elephant there? Prof
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
A polemical post, driven by frustration with a repeating pattern over KM, Agile, Systems Thinking and now Complexity, where something of real value is prematurely codified by those more skilled in presentation than they are in perspicacity. thecynefin.co/bad-money-dr...
thecynefin.co
"Bad money drives out good" - The Cynefin Co
Counterfeit coin spends as easily as real, until someone asks what backs it. The title is Gresham’s Law, the above is my reworking Simple is good, but too
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A fourth post in my Lotus Eater's series, with some self-reflection added on for good measure. Started at 0230 this morning, as I couldn't sleep thecynefin.co/the-lotus-ea...
thecynefin.co
The Lotus Eaters 4/3: The Inner Sun - The Cynefin Co
"We have been disappointed; but disappointments will work for our good, if we make the right use of them.... Be watchful; be patient, be persevering." —
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
A new post, extending our popular Estuarine Mapping to cover the applications of AI through cognitive, knowledge and reasoning perspectives. I will be presenting this at a free seminar in London next month - my first post-operative trip; link in comments thecynefin.co/the-estuary-...
thecynefin.co
The estuary, overlaid - The Cynefin Co
"The river is within us, the sea is all about us." — T. S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages (Four Quartets) Extending estuarine mapping to decide where AI belongs
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Time to start blogging again, though I will need a couple of weeks to recover. This time, reflecting on two positions on AI that cropped up early this morning on social media. thecynefin.co/is-there-eve...
thecynefin.co
Is there even a driver? - The Cynefin Co
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." The Cheshire Cat, in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Brian Arthur’s
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
It's taken a few weeks longer than intended, and more research and re-reading than I expected, but here is the post on Nolan's Odyssey contrasted and compared with Stone's Oresteia, linking back to my recent posts on modern lotus eaters. thecynefin.co/no-rosy-fing...
thecynefin.co
No rosy-fingered dawn - The Cynefin Co
The public art of the Greeks, which reached its zenith in their Tragedy, was the expression of the deepest and the noblest principles of the people's
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A personal post on coming to terms with the 'C' word, luck and the nature of public health care. thecynefin.co/the-idiots-g...
thecynefin.co
The Idiot's Guide to an Early Diagnosis - The Cynefin Co
“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Another in the Virpi series, this time in response to a social media challenge, the difference between starting journeys and seeking destinations thecynefin.co/the-next-rig...
thecynefin.co
The next right thing(s) - The Cynefin Co
Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.Traveller, there is no path; the path is made by walking. Antonio Machado So there are goals in a
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A new post in the 'inspired by Virpi' series, on black swans, dragon kings & perdurability encompassing but not defined by anti-fragility. Apologies for the delay in publishing; life has been disrupted by health issues, which should be resolved by surgery mid-August. thecynefin.co/we-dont-need...
thecynefin.co
We don't need a better bestiary - The Cynefin Co
"The river is within us, the sea is all about us." T. S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages An estuary, tended rather than defended, salt and fresh water and storm
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Second post in the Virpi-inspired series (although she is not responsible for my views). This one is on epistemic hygiene, black holes, conspiracy theories, and a few other things besides. thecynefin.co/epistemic-hy...
thecynefin.co
Epistemic hygiene - The Cynefin Co
"The human understanding, when it has once adopted an opinion, draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A polemical post on the abuse of the 'complexity' word. thecynefin.co/just-a-fanci...
thecynefin.co
Just a fancier box? - The Cynefin Co
All the excellency of their art consists in pompous gibberish, in a specious babbling, which gives you words instead of reasons, and promises instead of
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Some preliminary musings on complexity (and why it is not very, very complicated) and associated ethics. thecynefin.co/complexity-i...
thecynefin.co
Complexity Is Not Beyond Us? - The Cynefin Co
“Matters concerned with conduct and questions of what is good for us have no fixity, any more than matters of health.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Third and final post reflecting on the two CBI handbooks on knowledge management that I edited back in the 1990s and their relevance to today. This one includes the early version of Cynefin, with a 'transit hub' that became the aporetic/confused domain. thecynefin.co/cbi-km-2-3-a...
thecynefin.co
CBI KM 3/3: approaching the hub  - The Cynefin Co
"Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Second of my three posts using the two CBI handbooks on knowledge management that I edited over two decades ago as a source - this time introducing the portolan chart. thecynefin.co/cbi-km-2-3-m...
thecynefin.co
CBI KM 2/3: map before you manage - The Cynefin Co
"Old wine does not set easily in new wineskins." CBI/IBM Guide to Knowledge Management, 1998 I finished the last post promising two things: an expansion
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
First of an occasional series looking back on some knowledge management writing from two decades ago, which remains relevant today. thecynefin.co/small-wonder/
thecynefin.co
SMALL WONDER - The Cynefin Co
"Small wonder that Trojans and Achaeans should endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so marvellously and divinely lovely." Homer, Iliad,
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Seeing pruning in the organisation as a series of paradoxes thecynefin.co/the-paradoxe...
thecynefin.co
The paradoxes of the knife - The Cynefin Co
If you want good roses, sharpen your knife and harden your heart. Patience Strong, The Glory of the Garden (1951) A second Gaping Void illustration today,
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I'll be in Singapore 27-28 July to keynote at the Regional Scrum Gathering and also provide an Executive briefing. That's the 'Regular + Executive Brief' at $799 on the booking form in the link. Some free slots outside of the event itself. DM if interested: www.rsg-singapore.org/event-detail...
rsg-singapore.org
Regional Scrum Gathering® Singapore 2026 | 7-8 August
The foremost Agile conference of the region returns this 27-28 July!
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
An illustrated field guide to epistemic parasites who are regretably on the increase, consultants despirate for business or fame, LLM augmented, etc., etc. But this should help you spot and name them. thecynefin.co/a-field-guid...
thecynefin.co
A Field Guide to Epistemic Parasites - The Cynefin Co
So, naturalists observe, a fleaHath smaller fleas that on him prey,And these have smaller still to bite ’em,And so proceed ad infinitum. Jonathan Swift,
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Final post for now in the lotus eating series; looking at some of the temptations of fame, but more specifically at the promulgation of solutions without understanding the context from which they arose, or the changed context that AI and social media have brought. thecynefin.co/the-lotus-ea...
thecynefin.co
The Lotus Eaters 3/3: A Futurist on a Stage - The Cynefin Co
"So they came presently to the Lotus-eaters... and there was no thought of return." Homer, Odyssey, Book IX (trans. Samuel Butler) The introduction to
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Second of my three examples of the Lotus Eaters, this time an article by Laloux, propagated by corporate rebels (who should know better) and the whole 'Teal, replaces Turquoise, replaces Yellow, and then there was Coral' game of superiority. thecynefin.co/the-lotus-ea...
thecynefin.co
The Lotus Eaters 2/3: The Next Colour - The Cynefin Co
"Nor did any sight of smoke, nor any sound... reach them from that shore; only the lotus, and the wish to eat it, and, having eaten, to remain." Homer,
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
First of the three promised examples of lotus eating: Otto Scharmer's recent piece for MIT Sloan Management Review on AI. thecynefin.co/the-lotus-ea...
thecynefin.co
The Lotus Eaters 1/3: of caves & fires - The Cynefin Co
"Whoever ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus... wished to stay there forgetting all about going home." Homer, Odyssey, Book IX (trans. Samuel Butler)
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Reposted by snowded.bsky.social
Emily Jane Rothwell 🖤🌸🖋️ @emjanerothwell.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
magical book spines for my fellow bibliophiles
Vibrant, beautiful, and colourful books spines line a shelf. They are all fairy-tale editions comprising Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimms. They are magical looking.
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Critical reflections on day two of the brilliant Knowledge Summit in Dublin, written the morning after the night before in the Guness Brewery. thecynefin.co/supermindles...
thecynefin.co
Supermindlessness? - The Cynefin Co
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?’ — T. S. Eliot, Choruses from The Rock It is early
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Reflections on Day One at the Knowledge Summit Dublin event. thecynefin.co/struggle-and...
thecynefin.co
Struggle and the Shawl of Wisdom - The Cynefin Co
Fionn gained the wisdom of the Salmon of Knowledge not by seeking it deliberately, but by accident: a burnt thumb, instinctively sucked. From then on the
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
My earlier social media definition of a complex system now gets an update on the blog - it is still a work in progress. I've also added some general comments on the responses to the original post. thecynefin.co/defining-a-c...
thecynefin.co
Defining a Complex System - The Cynefin Co
… whereas strong dynamic links among components (characterized as nodes) result in a “strong cluster”, weak links between strong clusters give rise to a
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I was asked late last night for my definition of a complex system. I slept on it, thought a bit, played with options, & came up with something. Too long for a single LinkedIn post, so I asked Claude to tart it up a bit as an image, and it did! A tad pretentious, but here it is for comment.
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Soltise summary of all posts since the spring equinox published thecynefin.co/summer-solst...
thecynefin.co
Summer solstice - The Cynefin Co
The solstice does not choose between rising and falling; it is the moment both are true."Trobwynt nid yw terfyn A summary of posts since the Spring
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
A frustrated and exploratory post on the dangers of manufactured binaries and the false assumption that they have to be bridged. Using Mary Midgley, Mary Douglas, and the film The Mission to illustrate a different approach to reconciliation of practice and belief. thecynefin.co/two-marys-an...
thecynefin.co
Two Marys and (The) Mission - The Cynefin Co
‘Before I built a wall I’d ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out.’ — Robert Frost, Mending Wall Mary Midgley is having a moment. Metaphysical
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
A few weeks after my dialogue with Adam Kahane on the second edition of his classic 'Collaborating with the Enemy'. In that discussion, I raised a question about his use of Tillich (following Martin Luther King) and promised to write it up, so here it is: thecynefin.co/a-promise-to...
thecynefin.co
A Promise to Adam Kahane - The Cynefin Co
‘Grace is not a strange, foreign element which invades us from outside; it is the secret entelechy of our own being.’ — Karl Rahner S.J. Entelechy is
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Three plays with a theme of power & hope, and the relationship between a production and its e audience. Two by Brecht and the RSC's new Prospero, a vehicle for Branagh, but just as Quirrell was taken over by Voldemort; Branagh has been taken over by Lockhart thecynefin.co/verfremdungs...
thecynefin.co
Verfremdungseffekt: strange, not distanced - The Cynefin Co
‘Plenty of hope, for God — no end of hope — only not for us.’ Franz Kafka, to Walter Benjamin This is the third in what has become a habit rather than a
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that any sufficiently original idea in organisational change must be in want of a Buddhist antecedent." Continuing (and summarising) the theme of misappropriation in consultancy and other practice. thecynefin.co/a-marriage-m...
thecynefin.co
A marriage market of ideas - The Cynefin Co
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any sufficiently original idea in organisational change must be in want of a Buddhist antecedent. Jane
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I'm close to getting into the top 10% sponsorship group for the London-Brighton Cycle Ride in a few weeks. Just under a hundred kilometres at age 72 - so please donate, it all goes to the British Heart Foundation. page.justgiving.com/fundraising-...
page.justgiving.com
JustGiving Fundraising Heroes
Celebrate your achievements with JustGiving! Raise money for charity, collect badges for your milestones, and see your position alongside other amazing JustGiving fundraisers.
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snowded.bsky.social @snowded.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Final post (for now, there is more to come) in the Theory of Change (not to be confused with Theory of Constraints) series, this time moving to some of the work we have been doing based on anthro-complexity and its potential. This is an invitation to discussion thecynefin.co/toc-3-3-unde...
thecynefin.co
ToC 3/3: Understanding the Substrate - The Cynefin Co
‘Each set of questions comes in from a different angle and needs a different kind of solution … There is no way in which they can be piled up into a
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