Frameworks · Decision & Strategy

The frameworks behind workflow decisions.

Which tasks AI should absorb, which it should support, which it should stay out of.

Two sense-making frameworks that sharpen workflow mapping. Cynefin gives leadership a vocabulary for why some tasks belong to AI and some don't — different decision postures for different problem domains. Jobs to Be Done asks the question that surfaces the job the worker is actually hiring AI to do, not the surface task.

Both sit underneath the Workflow-First Sequence. Cynefin shapes the per-task classification in the AI-Workflow-Fit Diagnostic. Jobs to Be Done adds the why layer the workflow map needs before AI is sequenced into it.

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Cynefin Framework

A sense-making framework with four domains: Clear, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic — each calling for a different decision posture.

Dave Snowden's sense-making framework, four domains. Clear — sense, categorize, respond. Complicated — sense, analyze, respond. Complex — probe, sense, respond. Chaotic — act, sense, respond. The wrong posture for the domain is how leadership decisions fail.

Use case
Why the AI-Workflow-Fit Diagnostic has three categories: "AI absorbs" suits Clear and Complicated, "AI supports" suits Complex, "AI stays out" suits high-stakes Complex or Chaotic.

How Far West applies it
Used in Discovery and Advisory — why one task gets full automation while a similar-looking neighbour gets human-in-the-loop or stay-out.

thecynefin.co · About Cynefin

Jobs to Be Done

A framing question — what job is this worker hiring AI to do?

Clay Christensen's framing: customers — and workers — hire products to do a job. The underlying job, not the surface task, is the real opportunity. Someone hiring AI to write better emails may be hiring it to look competent in front of a sceptical boss.

Use case
Sharpens workflow mapping: what job is this worker hiring AI to do? resists fashion-driven automation and surfaces jobs they never name but really care about.

How Far West applies it
Used in Discovery and Diagnostic work — a why layer underneath each task, alongside the Workflow-First Sequence.

christenseninstitute.org · Jobs to Be Done

Where this work shows up

Decision-and-strategy frameworks anchor discovery, diagnostic, and approach work.

AI Workflow Discovery — Cynefin shapes per-task classification; Jobs to Be Done shapes the workflow map.
Monthly Advisory Retainer — Cynefin gives the leadership team a shared vocabulary for ongoing AI decisions.
The Workflow-First Sequence — both frameworks sit underneath the methodology.

Where to start

The Workflow Map stage is where these frameworks earn their place. Scope it on the discovery call.

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