Suggestions
Dave Snowden
Welsh management consultant and researcher
Dave Snowden is a Welsh management consultant and researcher renowned for his work in knowledge management and complexity science.1 Born in 1954, Snowden is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Company, formerly known as Cognitive Edge, a Singapore-based management consulting firm specializing in complexity and sensemaking.12
Education and Early Career
Snowden holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from Lancaster University, which he obtained in 1975.12 He later earned an MBA in Financial Management from Middlesex University in 1985.2 His professional career began at Data Sciences Ltd, where he worked from 1984 to 1997.12
IBM Years
After Data Sciences was acquired by IBM in 1996, Snowden continued his career there, taking on several significant roles:
- Set up IBM Global Services's Knowledge and Differentiation Programme in 1997
- Became European director of IBM's Institute for Knowledge Management in 2000
- Founded the IBM Cynefin Centre for Organisational Complexity in 20021
During his time at IBM, Snowden led the team that developed the Cynefin framework, a decision-making tool that has become one of his most recognized contributions to the field.1
The Cynefin Company
In 2004, Snowden left IBM and founded Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd, which now operates as The Cynefin Company.12 As the founder and Chief Scientific Officer, he has been instrumental in developing innovative approaches to organizational management and decision-making.3
Contributions and Recognition
Snowden is best known for:
- Developing the Cynefin framework
- Pioneering research on storytelling in organizations, particularly for expressing tacit knowledge
- Authoring numerous articles and book chapters on complexity in sensemaking1
His work has garnered significant recognition, including an award from the Academy of Management for a Harvard Business Review article on the Cynefin framework.13
Academic Involvement
Snowden has held visiting professorships at several universities, including the University of Hull, Bangor, Hong Kong PolyU, Warwick, Pretoria, and Stellenbosch.4 He has also been involved in research programs on complexity science and emergence.4
Throughout his career, Dave Snowden has been a influential figure in the fields of knowledge management, complexity science, and organizational decision-making, continually pushing the boundaries of understanding in these areas.34
Highlights
There are three rough categories of books on CAS (i) good/brilliant (ii) just using the language but not realising the implications and (iii) authors who should know better. The use of dichotomies is a sure indicator of a book which doesn’t fall into the first category. </inspired> after picking up the latest attempt in category three.
I'm really excited to be speaking (with my daughter) at the https://t.co/tfMgEvropK this June in beautiful Dublin, Ireland. It's where Generative AI meets human experience and hopefully gets put in its place. Hope you can join me!
