Strategy Meets Wardley Mapping

I found the work of Simon Wardley several years ago, and I was hooked from the very beginning of his message on visualizing strategy. I’ve never been satisfied with annual strategic planning exercises. The work seems forced if not a bit contrived at times. In this discussion, we talk about Sun Tzu’s five factors, the OODA Loop, mapping, doctrine, and other key concepts of Wardley Mapping.

Who Is Simon Wardley?

• former CEO of a software firm that was sold to Cannon
• a self-professed recovering management consultant
• researcher/advisor for Leading Edge Forum
• work on Wardley Mapping started after his reading of two translations of Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War

Questions and Ideas Discussed During the Interview

1. The origin of Wardley Mapping
2. Why landscapes are so critical on maps
3. What is the strategy circle?
4. Why is the OODA Loop integrated with the strategy circle?
5. The ‘why’ of purpose and the ‘why’ of movement
6. Differences between the Business Model Canvas and Wardley Mapping
7. Doctrine vs. core values

Lessons Learned with Blockbuster Video

• Predictable vs. unpredictable disruption
• Product substitution is unpredictable
• Product utility is predictable

Wardley Mapping – First Steps

1. Start with the map first.
2. Move to a pre-mortem with the team.
3. Do the project.
4. Conduct a post-mortem with the team with the map at hand.
5. Update the map during the post-mortem.
6. Challenge all assumptions.

Best Ways to Learn Wardley Mapping

• Ben Mosior at Hired Thought
• Learn Wardley Mapping (LWM)
• Series of articles by Simon Wardley on Medium
• Ben Mosior’s YouTube videos
• Map camps – you can also find map camps on Ben’s video channel listed above

Books Mentioned by Simon Wardley

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Title Photo by UX Brighton and licensed via Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0