LIMITLESS STRATEGY
Wardley Mapping is a strategic decision-making practice. Big enough for nation-states, yet small enough for 1-person operations, the mapping process holds the space for the integration of context, perspective, and creativity.
Wardley Mapping is provided for free courtesy of Simon Wardley, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike.
The process of Wardley Mapping is guided by the Strategy Cycle — a continuous loop through Purpose, Landscape, Climate, Doctrine, and Leadership before action is taken and the loop begins again.
1. Purpose
Your moral imperative. “The Game.” The scope of what you are doing and why you are doing it. The reason others follow you.
2. Landscape
A description of your environment. The arena of competition, including the position of troops, the features of the landscape, and any obstacles in your way.
3. Climate
The forces acting on the environment. The patterns of the seasons, the rules of the game, and your competitors’ actions. You don’t get to choose these forces, but you can discover them.
4. Doctrine
How you train your people, standard ways of operating, and techniques that you almost always apply. These are the universal principles, the set of beliefs that appear to work regardless of the landscape.
5. Leadership
The context-specific strategy that you choose after considering your purpose, the landscape, the climate and your capabilities.
The climate may affect your purpose, the environment may affect your strategy and your actions may affect all… Your purpose isn’t fixed, it changes as your landscape changes and as you act. There is no “core”, it’s all transitional.
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Learn Wardley Mapping whichever way works best for you.
The Book
Simon Wardley has written a free book.
Summaries
Watch Patreon-supported video summaries of the book.
Human Help
Schedule a personalized intro session with Hired Thought.
15-Minute course
Follow this guided intro and make your first Wardley Map.