Cognitive Edge SenseMaker Software Suite
The Cognitive Edge SenseMaker Software Suite, 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 by Cognitive Edge.
It provides a natural and intuitive approach to gaining multiple perspectives and new insights into complex problems that have hitherto proved intractable for both strategic management methods and software.
The SenseMaker Software Suite has been harnessed to address complex issues associated with:
- Making decisions in inherently complex environments;
- Assessing the intelligence available on competitive actors and their strategies;
- Developing leaders who can adapt to constant change;
- Managing knowledge that is critical to their business; and
- Assessing customer satisfaction and employee morale.
White papers on each of these will be available through this site shortly.
A common theme to the above is the use of unstructured data such as organisational narrative, news articles, blog entries, pictures, movies and soundclips, where the detection of weak signals provides greater security and responsiveness to change.
The software currently provides the following functionality:
- Narrative Discovery – the creation, indexing, and filtering of sensemaking data units known as SMIs (sensemaking items)
- Mass Narrative Representation (MNR) – a reporting tool providing multiple analyst views, allowing users to identify patterns and detect weak signals in large amounts of data
- Model Builder – preparing SMIs for situational analysis within various models of the user’s preference
For more information on the software, please contact a member of the Cognitive Edge Network, found through the Directory of Practitioners.
Pre-Hypothesis Research is an approach to research in which large volumes of Sense-making Items (SMIs) in the form of anecdotes, drawings, pictures or other digital forms are collected from a subject population. The material is indexed either by its originator (self-indexing) or by an expert or analyst who is processing material from the Internet or via other data capture methods. There are four types of metadata used for indexing, and this allows material to be tagged without prior knowledge of purpose. In consequence the approach allows quantitative data to be analysed, and, where patterns are detected, the originating narrative or other sense-making material is used to provide context and explanation. The application, which is fully supported by the SenseMaker software, combines research and real-time monitoring for emerging patterns with a knowledge database. It seeks to minimise or avoid known issues and problems with qualitative and pseudo-quantitative techniques that base their results on the use of questionnaires. It is also used to minimise the danger of expert opinion or bias which often corrupts the original data source. Pre-hypothesis Research typically require less than half the investment often associated with traditional survey techniques and they often provide even more dramatic savings and real value.
The Pre-hypothesis Research document provides some general guidance with reference to supporting methods.