Cognitive Edge is focused on rejuvenating management practices to better equip organisations when addressing intractable problems or seizing new opportunities in uncertain and complex situations. Where traditional approaches have failed to deliver success, Cognitive Edge techniques enable the emergence of fresh and insightful solutions seen from multiple perspectives.

Cognitive Edge solutions, comprised of open source methods, original research and the Cognitive Edge SenseMaker™ Software Suite, are delivered through the Cognitive Edge Network. The Cognitive Edge Network is a widely dispersed, cohesive Network of experienced professionals in private and public sector organisations from diverse disciplines with deep-rooted experience in both business and science. It includes academics and practitioners, in house and commercial consultants. Membership of the Network is attained through participation in an Accreditation programme.

The Cognitive Edge SenseMaker™ Software Suite provides a set of tools designed to enable informed decision making in organisations using both structured and unstructured data in a common environment. The Suite is fully integrated with a coherent body of formal methods is the outcome of several years of research into human based organizational complexity, sensemaking, decision making, knowledge sharing and narrative.

Recurrent Assemblies

Recurrent Assemblies are activities that are carried out in a workshop or as a project of sub-project, and may incorporate several actual methods. These represent the sort of projects that will be typically undertaken by an accredited practitioner when they are getting started as they are familiar and repeating assemblies of methods. As practitioners become more experienced we would expect them to create assemblies of their own. They should not be read as recipes or followed slavishly, however the individual methods used should not be compromised. In some cases brochures will be provided.

Recurrent assemblies include:


Complex Facilitation

Facilitating a group sense making process using complexity-informed techniques involves keeping things moving, letting things emerge from complex situations rather than trying to control things, and being ready to adapt plans to changing situations. Complex facilitation is helping a group of people to go through a process in which patterns will emerge from interactions within the group. It is not possible to control exactly what patterns will form, but it is possible to make it very likely that some patterns will form. The Complex Facilitation method document provides some general guidance with reference to supporting methods.


Mapping

Mapping in Cognitive Edge is based on genera l principles of descriptive self awareness, in which the process of mapping emerges though a series of tasks based on creating a meaningful context and asking meaningful questions. This means identifying pertinent sense-making items, asking a meaningful perspective question about those items and then evaluating the answers to reveal fruitful actions, linked to organisational objectives.

Mapping has specific mnemonics (ASHEN, ABIDE and one other in development) to handle the perspective question in respect of each of the three aspects of sense making: systems, perceptions and knowledge. The process is one of the most complete in Cognitive Edge and can utilise more or less all of the methods and much of the SenseMaker software. The Mapping method document provides some general guidance with reference to supporting methods.


Leadership training

Under documentation


Project management

Under documentation


Staff or Customer satisfaction

Under documentation


Innovation programmes

Under documentation


Inter disciplinary research as a problem solving technique

Under documentation