Professor Snowden is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cognitive Edge. His work is international in nature and covers government and industry looking at complex issues relating to strategy, organisational decision making and decision making. He has pioneered a science based approach to organisations drawing on anthropology, neuroscience and complex adaptive systems theory. He is a popular and passionate keynote speaker on a range of subjects, and is well known for his pragmatic cynicism and iconoclastic style.

Fresh from his work in Singapore, Professor Snowden provided an overview of his work with organisations across the globe, to an audience of senior figures from across Welsh public services, with a focus on how leaders can make sense in complex environments to lead organisations in challenging times.

Professor Snowden has presented some of his thoughts and responses to questions posed during the seminar in Professor Snowden's blog [Opens in new window] and in video clips from the day [Opens in new window].

You can also see ideas from the day shared on Twitter [Opens in new window].

The event was recorded graphically by Laura Sorvala at Aura_Lab. Laura was able to provide strong visual interpretations of the key thinking from Professor Snowden's seminar and afternoon workshops.

Seminar outline

Session 1 (90 minutes 9.30 -11am) was aimed at Senior Leaders in Welsh Public Services, who benefited from gaining an overview from Professor Snowden of making sense in complex environments to lead organisations in challenging times.

Session 2 (remainder of the day) workshops were aimed at Policy Leads, Change Managers and Senior Officers. These provided an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and practical experience of gathering information and making sense of:

• The views and experiences of service users and citizens;
• Employee engagement;
• Innovation and improvement;
• Monitoring and measurement; and
• The role of leadership in complex public service environments.

Where and when

Wednesday 28 November 2012
0900 – 1300
Wales Audit Office, 24 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9LJ

Thursday 31 January 2013
0900 – 1300
Bangor University, Bangor