Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis

Summary

The JRC field guide offers a four-stage crisis approach informed by Cynefin: assess and respond, build sensing networks, repurpose structures for innovation, and formalise learning and resilience.

Implications for practice

It is a public institutional translation into crisis practice, with explicit attention to boundaries, informal structures, options and distributed engagement.

Key distinctions

• field guide vs universal procedure
• complexity vs chaos
• sensing network vs central information pipeline

Historical development

• Cynefin
• European Commission Joint Research Centre
• crisis practice

Ideas it depends on

• context assessment
• boundaries
• sensing
• options

Further developments

• crisis action stages
• institutional learning

Connections to practice

• government
• crisis response
• resilience
• innovation

Common confusions

• four stages imply a linear programme
• a guide removes the need for situated judgement

Further checks

• add evaluations and cases
• compare with emergency-management doctrine
• trace later revisions

Recorded connections

Check the wording, direction, scope, sources, and status of a connection before relying on it.

• Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis applies Cynefin framework

  Status: accepted · Relation: applies

  The statement is limited to the named sources and their evidential role. First-party definition, authorship, historical development, application and independent evaluation remain distinct claims.

  Locator: Release 0.14 public primary, official, institutional and publisher sources

  • Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: a field guide for decision makers inspired by the Cynefin framework (checked)

• Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis was co-authored by Dave Snowden

  Status: accepted · Relation: authored by

  The statement is limited to the named sources and their evidential role. First-party definition, authorship, historical development, application and independent evaluation remain distinct claims.

  Locator: Release 0.14 public primary, official, institutional and publisher sources

  • Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: a field guide for decision makers inspired by the Cynefin framework (checked)

• Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis was co-authored by Alessandro Rancati

  Status: accepted · Relation: authored by

  The statement is limited to the named sources and their evidential role. First-party definition, authorship, historical development, application and independent evaluation remain distinct claims.

  Locator: Release 0.14 public primary, official, institutional and publisher sources

  • Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: a field guide for decision makers inspired by the Cynefin framework (checked)

Sources and passage locators

• Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: a field guide for decision makers inspired by the Cynefin framework (checked)
• Managing complexity and chaos in times of crisis — Cynefin library record (checked)

Cite this entry

Taylor, B. P. (2026). Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis. The Necessary Tangle, release 0.35. https://transduction.systems/entries/publication_managing_complexity_chaos_field_guide/

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