I recently had the privilege of attending training on the Cynefin Tools and Methods with David Snowden, hosted by @TomorrowToday.biz. I found the training extremely useful, specifically as it relates to introducing and leading change in organisations. The Cynefin framework is something that I’m going to become better acquainted with over the next while. I previously discussed the power of conversation to stimulate ideas and action from groups of people. At the time, this was my personal observation, and I did not quite understand the underlying dynamics of what was happening in group settings, when we suddenly found ourselves generating knowledge and insights that would not have been possible individually. On the course David shared two principles concerning knowledge that seemed to explain the power of groups in generating the knowledge and insights as I had observed, the two principles are:
- We can always know more than we can tell, and we will always tell more than we can write down. This is something I think we have all experienced. We jump into a deep discussion with a group of friends or colleagues. You become so involved in the discussion and surprise yourself with the insight and wisdom that pours forth from your lips!
- We only know what we know when we need to know it. It turns out that our knowledge is contextual, this means that we access the knowledge we require based upon the context we find ourselves in. This means if you’re place into a context, or if a question is framed in such a way that places you in a specific context, the context enables you to access knowledge deep within you that otherwise would have been left untapped. THis also happens effectively in group settings, the group discussion place us in a context that enables us to access knowledge we would not have been able to access on our own.
This insight help explain what I observed happening in groups. It also provides a powerful insight, groups help to provide context and allow people to converse in a way that helps individuals to access knowledge and generate insights that would not have been possible if the individuals attempted to solve the problem on their own.
Technorati Tags: Communication, Conversation, Cynefin, Sense-making
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