What is a Wardley Map?

Wardley maps rotate around strategy. They involve coming up with a shareable understanding and intuitive of your context. They allow you to provide awareness, crucial for building a reliable strategy. Wardley maps play a critical role, especially when starting a non-profit or business. Also, you need these maps when anticipating the future or inspecting the competition. Other than this, you can use Wardley maps to analyze industries for opportunities.

What Does Wardley Mapping Mean?

A Wardley map represents the landscape where business runs its operations. This landscape comprises a value chain graphed against evolution. Here value chain reflects the activities required to fulfill the needs of the user. In the case of evolution, it shows how the actions of an individual change as time passes on under demand and supply competition.

A Wardley Map is a clear reflection of situational awareness. It shows the shared assumptions made relating to the context and hints of the available strategic options.

The Theory Of Simon Wardley

As per Simon Wardley, who is also the technique’s inventor, we can describe strategy using Sun Tzu’s Five Factors. These factors include leadership, purpose, doctrine, landscape, and climate.

As per this model, any wise leader has ‘a what and a why.’ This ‘what and why’ is what we refer to as the moral imperative. Other than this, a wise leader has a map, what we refer to as ‘grasping the terrain.’ A wise leader needs to anticipate the patterns of the forces that act on the environment. Also, this leader needs to train the company in universally crucial principals. Finally, a wise leader is the one who takes part in making shrewd decisions that can lead to victory.

What Is The Need For Mapping?

Mapping can help you quickly validate the right solutions. Thus, with mapping, you have an easy way of avoiding costly mistakes. It can assist you in identifying the things to work on, what to purchase, and outsource. It plays a critical role in minimizing the chances that you will miss something vital.

All the mapping processes expose you to new insights that can help you to make better decisions. Remember, the deeper you’ll go, the more learn and the high chances of coming across the options you want.

In general, Wardley Mapping plays a crucial role in diminishing project risk.

Note This When Mapping

The first thing must be your top priority. Start by creating a new board and add the Canvas of Wardley Mapping from the available templates.

Spend little time on each step if you’re working on your first map. Note that mapping falls under the category of iterative processes. Also, keep in mind that you can’t gain much if you overanalyze on the first pass.

After building your first map, share it with your friend, and discuss what you learned from the process. Note all the crucial information down and take a step of applying it when working on your second map. Read the book of Simon Wardley to get more vital tips on how to improve your work.