Choosing a Project Management Approach with Cynefin

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Not every project needs Agile.

Not every project needs Waterfall.

And not every messy situation can be fixed by renaming meetings “ceremonies” and putting sticky notes on a wall. That is project-management cosplay. Stylish, maybe. Useful, only sometimes.

The better question is:

What kind of problem are we actually dealing with?

That is where the Cynefin framework helps. Cynefin is a sense-making framework for matching your response to the reality of the situation. It does not ask, “What process do we like?” It asks, “What domain are we in?”

Decision-Making on Derek's Guides

Choosing a Project Management Approach with Cynefin