Blog Archives

Two SCAN notes – 2: Causal Layered Analysis

Posted on 4 March 2014 by Tom G — 1 Comment ↓

Regular readers of this blog will know I refer quite often to one of the core techniques in futures-studies, Sohail Inayatullah’s Causal Layered Analysis (CLA). But as of a couple of weeks ago, you won’t find any reference to it on…

Tagged with: causal layered analysis, complexity, culture, decision-making, Enterprise architecture, Futures, SCAN, sense-making, story, worldview
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture, Futures

Two SCAN notes – 1: Edges

Posted on 28 February 2014 by Tom G — No Comments ↓

The SCAN framework describes sensemaking and decision-making in terms of four distinct ‘domains’, by convention labelled as Simple, Complicated, Ambiguous and Not-known. But what happens at the edges? (The domains themselves are fairly distinct, anyway, in the sense that viable…

Tagged with: complexity, context-space mapping, decision-making, Enterprise architecture, Knowledge, narrative, SCAN, strategy
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture

At Integrated-EA 2014

Posted on 28 February 2014 by Tom G — No Comments ↓

Always an interesting event, this one: Integrated-EA, the annual Defence-oriented enterprise-architecture conference in London that’s been a favourite part of my calendar for some years now. This time I was only able to go to the second day – I…

Tagged with: chaos, complexity, conference, decision-making, Enterprise architecture, Integrated EA, sense-making
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture

Knowable and discoverable

Posted on 22 January 2014 by Tom G — No Comments ↓

“Profound garbage” – that was how he described my work. Well, I can’t complain: at least he described it as ‘profound’… Over the past few days there’s been a fair amount that’s gone all kinda philosophical and ‘meta’ on me,…

Tagged with: chaos, complexity, decision-making, effectiveness, SCAN, sense-making
Posted in Complexity / Structure

Starting-friction

Posted on 11 December 2013 by Tom G — 15 Comments ↓

Great idea! Let’s get started! Uh… How do we get started? Kind of ‘There’s a hole in my bucket‘, often – everything depends on everything else, so there’s no clear place to start. But since everything does depend on everything else, it’d…

Tagged with: change, change management, decision-making, enterprise, responsibility, Scribbles / writing
Posted in Business, Knowledge, Power and responsibility, Scribbles / writing

SCAN – some recent notes

Posted on 7 October 2013 by Tom G — 1 Comment ↓

Still somewhat in catch-up mode, but seems like this’d be the right time to summarise a few ideas that have come up in recent months on the SCAN framework for sensemaking and decision-making. First of these is a simple cross-map…

Tagged with: decision-making, Enterprise architecture, SCAN, sense-making, sensemaking
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture

Checking the SCORE

Posted on 29 June 2013 by Tom G — 4 Comments ↓

What’s a quick, practical alternative to SWOT – one that gives a bit more depth for strategic assessment, yet is still just as fast to use? My answer? Check out the SCORE: Strengths, Challenges, Options, Responses, Effectiveness. What triggered this…

Tagged with: Business, change, context-space mapping, decision-making, effectiveness, enterprise, Enterprise architecture, Futures, SCORE, sense-making, strategy
Posted in Business, Enterprise architecture, Futures

At ‘EA and Systems-Thinking’ conference

Posted on 17 June 2013 by Tom G — 10 Comments ↓

For enterprise-architecture and systems-thinking alike, how can we reach towards the opposite of their too-common anti-pattern – all those endless ‘academic’ arguments on LinkedIn? More to the point, how can we bring it out of the abstract, and down into…

Tagged with: complexity, decision-making, effectiveness, Enterprise architecture, Futures, paradigm, sense-making, systems-thinking, vsm
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture

SCAN as ‘decision-dartboard’

Posted on 15 June 2013 by Tom G — 2 Comments ↓

How to use SCAN as a ‘decision-dartboard’ in work-planning? That was probably the highlight in a great conversation outside the IRM-EAC conference in London earlier this week with Kai Schlüter, enterprise-architect at Danish engineering conglomerate Danfoss. Kai heads up a team…

Tagged with: decision-making, Enterprise architecture, kai schluter, SCAN, sense-making
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture

A simpler SCAN

Posted on 7 June 2013 by Tom G — No Comments ↓

The SCAN frame provides a simple means to make sense of complexity and decision-making in almost any context. Yet is there perhaps an even simpler way to describe the principles and practice behind it? I’ve been nibbling at that question for quite…

Tagged with: complexity, decision-making, Enterprise architecture, SCAN, sense-making
Posted in Complexity / Structure, Enterprise architecture