Post about Wardley Maps

How to you leverage Wardley Maps for grand strategy thinking?

I’m a big fan of Wardley Maps for several years now. Although I have to admit that I did not use Wardley Maps that much. When I just rediscovered the great presentation by Simon Wardley (see comments), I immediately again got hooked. I hear again and again a strong inner voice that tells me, that Wardley maps are the way to go to visualize a current system and derive a strategy, where to invest for further development and to anticipate changes. With its visualization it provides a common picture when one can discuss about align perspectives. It is not so narrow like many other strategy tool e.g. SWOT analysis.

I did several attempts to work with Wardley Maps and I mostly failed getting it off the ground. Reflecting on it I observe several problems with my approach and my context:

• Wardley Maps in my perception require a higher order knowledge and it needs some time to understand it and grasp all the different dimensions.
• With many people I spoke with, they just did not get the value clear enough to invest in learning and upskilling.
• If I’m on beginner level and I find it super difficult to explain the concept and transport the value. And I also observed that such an approach of explaining and connecting with others also leads to rejecting Wardley Mapping. But not because Wardley Mapping is the problem but based on me explaining it partially wrong and being unable to explain its value clearly. How can I bring a leader to invest time in learning about it?
• When I started back then I did not discover proper tooling. More an excuse I know and fortunately that solved now with the availability on Online Wardley Maps (see also a link in the comments)
• When I mapped by myself, I was often overwhelmed. So many dimensions to orient on. How should I know in which stage a component actually is? Too many items on a map, limiting clarity. Struggling with the connections between components. Mixing abstraction levels …

I realize, I need more connections with more experienced Wardley Mappers.

And I want to ask you for help. I would like to connect with likeminded people, that share a passion for strategy and working with Wardley Maps. Maybe you can connect with me. I’d love to work with experienced mappers and escape from my current plateau on to the next level. In exchange, I can offer my passion, asking strange questions and help you as mentor reflecting on your thoughts and learning by teaching too.

And if you know someone who already works with Wardley maps, please mention me and be the connection builder.

In the comments I share some sources I also gathered through the years. Maybe that is also a good starter point for people new to the topic.

Looking forward to you Wardley Mappers!

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