Hi, Rachel. When it comes to problem discovery, the purpose of the Cynefin is to help you evaluate the size and complexity of problems you’re considering creating / improving solutions for.

I like to use a war analogy to describe complex problems. Have you ever watched a movie where a team is planning their attack on the enemy but they agree they can’t know for sure what awaits them until they’re already engaged in battle? That’s a complex problem that requires you to first probe around (i.e. research / learn), perhaps even come up with initial solutions (i.e. prototypes) before you can begin to understand what kind of solutions are needed.

Is this helpful?