Interview with Dave Snowden

Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Dave Snowden – I’m CSO of Cognitive Edge and Director of the Cynefin Centre.   Cognitive Edge is a commercial company building methods and training as well as the SenseMaker® product range.  The Cynefin Centre is an R&D base focused on Government and NGO programmes

Q: What will your talk be about, exactly? Why this topic?

I’ll be talking about Complexity and uncertainty and how to navigate it.  That will include the latest version of my Cynefin framework and ideas on ‘pre-scrum’ techniques within Agile and non-linear approaches to design thinking

Q: What do you think could be the main gain for participants in your session?

Ways to reduce the risk on projects. and understanding that uncertainty is often a good thin and should be navigated not eliminated.  New methods and techniques

Q: Can you give some advice to teams/organisations that are transitioning to agile?

Do it in small stages building on your current strenghts – think transition not transformation. Avoid the big scaling frameworks at all costs, don’t abandon non-Agile methods they still have a role

Q: How do you see the evolution of agile in the future?

Increasing commodification so we need to think hard about how we restore some of the original vision before its toolate.

Q: You have given many interviews/presentations about agile. Is there a question you wish to have been asked but no one ever asked you?

Absolutely, I’m still waiting for it