Wardley Mapping Doctrine

Wardley Mapping Doctrine
Wardley's Doctrine is a set of principles and guidelines for effective strategy development and execution. It emphasises transparency, situational awareness, common language, challenging assumptions, and a focus on user needs. The doctrine also promotes pragmatism, flow optimisation, and a bias towards action and adaptation in the face of a constantly evolving landscape.
Transparency and Collaboration
1
Be Transparent
Have a bias towards openness within your organisation. Share your maps with others and allow them to add their wisdom and challenge the process. Building maps in secret is a surefire way of missing the obvious.
2
Use a Common Language
Effective collaboration requires a common language. Maps allow people with different aptitudes to work together and create a shared understanding. Collaboration without a common language is just noise before failure.
3
Challenge Assumptions
Maps allow assumptions to be visually exposed. Encourage challenge to any map, with a focus on creating a better map and a better understanding. There is no place for ego if you want to learn.
Understanding the Landscape
1
Focus on High Situational Awareness
There is a strong correlation between awareness and performance, so focus on understanding the landscape you are competing in. Look before you leap.
2
Know Your Users
When mapping a landscape, know who your users are, e.g. customers, shareholders, regulators and staff. Anchor your maps to their needs.
3
Focus on User Needs
An essential part of mapping is understanding user needs. Ideally, you want to create an environment where your needs are achieved by meeting the needs of your users. Be aware that these needs will evolve.
Practical Principles
Think FIRE
Break large systems down into small components, use and re-use inexpensive components where possible, constrain budgets and time, build as simply and as elegantly as possible.
Be Pragmatic
Avoid the urge to re-invent the wheel. If a component already exists, try to use it. Challenge when you depart from using something that already exists.
Manage Inertia and Failure
Understand and anticipate inertia to change, and use maps to enable people to discover their own inertia. Mitigate risks by distributing systems, designing for failure, and constantly introducing failure.
Organisational Principles
Distribute Power and Decision-Making
Have a bias towards distributing power from the centre, including yourself. Put power in the hands of those who are closest to the choices that need to be made.
Provide Purpose, Mastery & Autonomy
Provide people with purpose, enable them to build mastery in their chosen area, and give them the freedom to act.
Embrace Different Cultures
Understand that a company needs to cope with the discovery of uncharted components and the use of the industrialised. You will need different attitudes and cultures, such as pioneers, settlers and town planners.
Seek the Best
Try to find and grow the best people with the best aptitude and attitude for their roles. Invest in keeping them, and don't force them into becoming something they're not suited for.
Continuous Improvement
1
Design for Constant Evolution
Create an organisational system that copes with the constant ebb and flow in the landscape. Changes should flow through your organisation without the need for constant restructuring.
2
Use a Systematic Mechanism of Learning
Maps provide a systematic way to learn climatic patterns, doctrine and context-specific play. Have a bias towards such learning and the use of data.
3
Have a Bias Towards Action
Don't attempt to create the perfect map. Have a bias towards action because the landscape will change, and you will discover more through action. You learn by playing the game.
Strategic Mindset
Exploit the Landscape
Use the landscape to your advantage; there are often powerful force multipliers. Consciously choose whether or not to take advantage of a competitor or market change.
Think Big, Act Small
Whilst the actions you take, the way you organise, and the focus on detail requires you to think small, when it comes to inspiring others, provide direction and moral imperative, then think big.
Be Humble
Listen to others, be selfless, have fortitude and be humble. Inspire others by who you are and what you do. Avoid arrogance at all costs.
Embrace Complexity
Strategy is complex, with uncertainty, emerging patterns and surprises. Embrace this, don't fall for the temptation that you can plan the future. What matters is the preparation and your ability to adapt.
Doctrine: Focus on User Need
Understand User Needs
The true value we create comes from meeting the needs of our users. This should be the anchor for everything we do, from mapping our environment to designing our products and services.
Avoid "Not Sucking"
It's tempting to simply aim to be better than the competition, but this mindset is limited. Instead, we should strive to be the best we can be by truly understanding what our users require.
Articulate User Needs
Many organisations struggle to clearly articulate the user needs they are trying to address. This lack of clarity can lead to ineffective and wasteful efforts.
Anchor Everything in Users
Whether it's a $100 million project or a simple product enhancement, the user need should be the guiding principle. Without this, efforts can become misaligned and disconnected from what truly matters.
Key Principles