In this paper, we challenge the universality of three basic assumptions prevalent in organizational decision support and strategy: assumptions of order, of rational choice, and of intent. We describe the Cynefin framework, a sense-making device we have developed to help people make sense of the complexities made visible by the relaxation of these assumptions. The Cynefin framework is derived from several years of action research into the use of narrative and complexity theory in organizational knowledge exchange, decision-making, strategy, and policy-making. The framework is explained, its conceptual underpinnings are outlined, and its use in group sense-making and discourse is described. Finally, the consequences of relaxing the three basic assumptions, using the Cynefin framework as a mechanism, are considered.

The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world

From the Publisher:
A New York Times bestseller when it appeared in 1989, Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind was universally hailed as a marvelous survey of modern physics as well as a brilliant reflection on the human mind, offering a new perspective on the scientific landscape and a visionary glimpse of the possible future of science. Now, in Shadows of the Mind, Penrose offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artificial intelligence. But perhaps more important, in this volume he points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind. Penrose contends that some aspects of the human mind lie beyond computation. This is not a religious argument (that the mind is something other than physical) nor is it based on the brain's vast complexity (the weather is immensely complex, says Penrose, but it is still a computable thing, at least in theory). Instead, he provides powerful arguments to support his conclusion that there is something in the conscious activity of the brain that transcends computation - and will find no explanation in terms of present-day science. To illuminate what he believes this "something" might be, and to suggest where a new physics must proceed so that we may understand it, Penrose cuts a wide swathe through modern science, providing penetrating looks at everything from Turing computability and Godel's incompleteness, via Schrodinger's Cat and the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-testing problem, to detailed microbiology. Of particular interest is Penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in The Emperor's New Mind, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet. But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in Shadows of the Mind is Penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying dee

Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness

Based on a calculation of neural decoherence rates, we argue that the degrees of freedom of the human brain that relate to cognitive processes should be thought of as a classical rather than quantum system, i.e., that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the current classical approach to neural network simulations. We find that the decoherence time scales ( approximately 10(-13)-10(-20) s) are typically much shorter than the relevant dynamical time scales ( approximately 10(-3)-10(-1) s), both for regular neuron firing and for kinklike polarization excitations in microtubules. This conclusion disagrees with suggestions by Penrose and others that the brain acts as a quantum computer, and that quantum coherence is related to consciousness in a fundamental way.

/pdf/importance-of-quantum-decoherence-in-brain-processes-57o8p06yi3.pdf

Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes.

The meaning of work: The challenge of regaining employee engagement and reducing cynicism

Despite recent interest in the effects of restructuring and redesigning the work place, the link between individual identity and structural change has usually been asserted rather than demonstrated. Through an extensive review of data from field work in a multi-national corporation Catherine Casey changes this. She knows that changes currently occuring in the world of work are part of the vast social and cultural changes that are challenging the meta trends of modern industrialism. These events affect what people do everyday, and they are altering relations among ourselves and with the physical world. This valuable book is not only a critical analysis of the transformations occurring in the world of work, but an exploration of the effects of contemporary practices of work on the self.

Work, Self and Society: After Industrialism

At the beginning of the twentieth century, as psychologists discovered ways and means to measure intelligence, Aristotle's definition of man as "a rational animal" developed into an obsession with IQ. In the mid-1990s, Daniel Goleman popularized research into emotional intelligence, EQ, pointing out that EQ is a basic requirement for the appropriate use of IQ. There is enough collective evidence from psychology, neurology, anthropology and cognitiv science to hsow us that there is a third "Q", "SQ" or Spiritual Intelligence. Unlike IQ, which computers have and EQ which exists in higher mammals, SQ is uniquely human and, the author argues, the most fundamental of the three. It is linked to humanity's need for meaning, an issue very much at the forefront of people's minds as the century draws to a close. SQ is what we use to develop our longing and capacity for meaning, vision and value. It allows us to dream and to strive.

Sq - Spiritual Intelligence: The Ultimate Intelligence

1. The Monster That Consumes Itself 2. Spiritual Capital 3. The Motivations That Drive Us 4. The Individual Motivations 5. SQ: Spiritual Intelligence 6. The Twelve Principles of Transformation 7. Individual SQ processes 8. How Shift Happens 9. Shifting Corporate Culture 10. A New Knights Templar? 11. Is It Still Capitalism?

Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By

SQ: Connecting With Our Spiritual Intelligence

The Quantum Self

Part 1 Introduction: the transformation lie how the brain re-wires itself - three kinds of thinking 8 principles of the old and new science applied to leadership being at the edge. Part 2 The brain, the self and organization: the Western model - the Newtonian self and the Newtonian organization the Eastern model - the networked self and the networked organization the quantum self and the quantum organization dialogue - a chance to grow new neural connections the servant leader - what does he or she really serve?.

Danah Zohar

Papers

Sq - Spiritual Intelligence: The Ultimate Intelligence

Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By

SQ: Connecting With Our Spiritual Intelligence

The Quantum Self

Rewiring the Corporate Brain: Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations