Cynefin Framework

Biological Parallel

Dave Snowden's Cynefin framework categorizes problems as clear, complicated, complex, or chaotic, each requiring different approaches. Organisms navigate all four domains: thermostats operate in clear systems (temperature deviation triggers fixed response), migration requires complicated navigation, ecosystem participation is complex (emergent, unpredictable), and predator attacks are chaotic (act first, sense later). The framework isn't new—it describes the decision architectures evolution has been testing for hundreds of millions of years.