Marc’s MSLD Reflection Blog

The Cynefin Framework encourages leaders to take different approaches to decision making in different contexts.  “Good leadership is not a one-size-fits-all proposition” (Snowden & Boone, 2007, para. 2). The Cynefin Framework categorizes decision into four contexts: simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic.  The framework provides decision makers with principles and guidelines to follow when confronted with decisions in each context. Simple decisions include straightforward thinking and best practices.  Leaders are challenged to sense an issue or question, categorize it, and respond appropriately. Complicated decisions are the areas of experts. Best practices are no longer sufficient to overcome this kind of challenge.  Leaders sense a problem, analyze how to best overcome it, and respond appropriately (Watkins, n.d.). As challenges become more complex decision makers are forced to recognize that solutions may not yet exist, but will emerge through experimentation.  The

There are many factors that influence the decisions we make.  Many decisions, especially those made by leaders, have the potential to affect a large number of people.  It is important for a decision-maker to approach a challenging decision from multiple viewpoints to get the whole picture of the issue.  By involving all interested parties in the decision making process the understanding of the issue can be expanded and better decisions can be made.  “Improving the decision-making process comes as a result of evolving ideas around collaboration and by connecting people and empowering them to work together” (Austin, 2013, para. 2).  Collaboration harnesses and combines the abilities, creativity, and potential of everyone involved. “Collaboration . . . attempts to build a shared vision, accountability, and buy-in” (Warner, 2012, para. 1).   It is often the dimension of time that influences the level of collaboration that is employed while making a challenging decision.  When decisi

Stephen R. Covey (1989) said “Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand.  We listen with the intent to reply.” Most people are not very good listeners. When people around us are speaking, or even when we are engaged in conversation, our minds are off doing other things.  We might be planning our response to what is being said, we might be thinking about our plans for later in the day, or we might be completely lost in daydreams. For most people, listening, really listening, is not a natural ability.  It takes practice to listen well. Listening has been defined as “a conscious, cognitive effort involving primarily the sense of hearing and leading to interpretation and understanding” (Sayeekumar, 2013). The key is that listening leads to understanding.   Effective communication occurs when the message that is sent by a speaker is the same as the message that is received by a listener.  However, active listening is much more than simply hearing what is being commun

When we are confronted with a choice our values determine what path we will take.  We are constantly in a struggle to have our values met. When we act in accordance with our values we feel contentment and satisfaction, knowing we are living a life full of what is most important to us.  When we act inconsistently with our values we feel dissatisfaction, unease, and incongruity. For example, I value health and fitness. Every time I eat a cookie I feel a slight tinge of guilt, knowing that my actions have been inconsistent with my values.  Our personal values have a large impact on our goals and the direction of our life. Our personal values determine how we act in different situations. Our decision making is the way we work to fulfill our personal values. Many of the decisions we are faced with are not so simple.  Many of our choices include conflicting values. “When faced with a particular decision, we are called upon to figure out what general values are implicated and then