E99| Civilisation, Science & Spirituality | Dave Snowden in dialogue with Tim Adalin
An exploration of human decision making and transformative social process in the context of evolution, emergence, complexity, religion, telos, the mystical and more. Welcoming the creator of the Cynefin Framework and iconoclastic generalist thinker Dave Snowden in dialogue with Tim Adalin.
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The conversation explores the relationship between humanity and technology, emergence and complexity in the civilizational project. Dave Snowden discusses his work in managing complexity and change processes, emphasizing the importance of bottom-up approaches and distributed decision-making. He highlights the need to focus on changing the energy gradients of the system and creating processes that allow desired qualities to emerge. Snowden also discusses the role of management and leadership in stimulating and responding to the system, as well as the importance of understanding different cultural perspectives and narratives. The conversation explores the evolution of science and the role of spirituality in human life. It delves into the relationship between religion and science, the impact of globalization and the internet, and the importance of balance and reconciliation with the planet. The concept of messy coherence and the recognition of commonality are discussed, as well as the need for humility and the understanding of what we don't know. The conversation also touches on the role of rituals, symbolism, and community in religion, and the importance of recognizing unintended consequences and embracing complexity. The conversation explores the concept of fractality and how systems are self-similar. It delves into the idea of alignment in systems and the importance of micro nudging rather than trying to align systems by deciding where they should be. The conversation also touches on the role of abstraction in human thinking and the use of abductive thinking in interpreting stories. It discusses the importance of context and the need to understand different cultures and their ways of communication. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the mystical aspects of human existence and the role of trust in communication.
Keywords
humanity, technology, emergence, complexity, civilizational project, change processes, bottom-up approaches, distributed decision-making, energy gradients, management, leadership, cultural perspectives, narratives, evolution of science, spirituality, religion, globalization, internet, balance, reconciliation, messy coherence, commonality, humility, rituals, symbolism, community, unintended consequences, complexity, fractality, self-similarity, alignment, micro nudging, abstraction, context, culture, communication, trust, mystical
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00:00 - Introduction
03:03 - Dave Snowden's Background and Work
05:20 - Understanding Human Decision-Making
08:08 - Micro Narratives and Transgenerational Pairs
09:38 - Navigating Complexity: Bottom-Up Approaches
15:37 - Energy Gradients
23:44 - Management and Facilitation
29:04 - Science and Spirituality
44:39 - Religion and its Relationship with Society
48:20 - The Impact of Globalization and the Internet
50:33 - The Concept of Messy Coherence
01:09:35 - Balance and Reconciliation with the Planet
01:12:53 - Fractality and Self-Similarity
01:15:41 - Abduction and Human Thinking
01:19:37 - Transcontextuality & Scaling and Participatory Approaches
01:28:30 - "You got much time for the mystical, Dave?"
01:33:38 - Language and meaning
01:39:03 -The Role of Trust in Effective Communication
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Dave is the creator of the Cynefin Framework and originated the design of SenseMaker®, the world’s first distributed ethnography tool. He is the lead author of Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: A field guide for decision-makers, a shared effort between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, and the Cynefin Centre.
He divides his time between two roles: founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Company and the founder and Director of the Cynefin Centre. His work is international in nature and covers government and industry looking at complex issues relating to strategy and organisational decision-making. He has pioneered a science-based approach to organisations drawing on anthropology, neuroscience, and complex adaptive systems theory. Using natural science as a constraint on the understanding of social systems avoids many of the issues associated with inductive or case-based approaches to research. He is a popular and passionate keynote speaker on a range of subjects and is well known for his pragmatic cynicism and iconoclastic style.
Learn more about Dave and Cynefin at https://thecynefin.co/team/dave-snowden/
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Tim is the founder of Voicecraft and a philosopher with a focus on the relation between participation and transformation. You can connect with Tim individually @ https://www.timadalin.xyz
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