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Maps and Topographical Intelligence
Summary
On writing the Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien quipped “I wisely started with a map”. In this discussion with Simon Wardley of the Leading Edge Forum, we looked at the subject of maps and topographical intelligence and whether they apply to business. We discussed what is a map, how to build one, and why do they matter, after which we focused on doctrine and core principles of organization—namely why this is no such thing as one size fits all culture, and how to cope with constant change by organizing with maps through pioneers, settlers and town planners.
Key Insights
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Situational awareness is central to effective business strategy but is rarely understood outside military contexts.
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Most corporate strategies resemble random buzzword combinations rather than grounded plans.
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True maps require an anchor, meaning in space, and defined movement to convey situational understanding.
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Stories and frameworks like SWOT lack spatial meaning and lead to poor strategy clarity.
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Mapping business components anchored by customer needs reveals evolutionary stages from genesis to commodity.
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Evolutionary patterns explain why one-size-fits-all methods fail and guide appropriate method selection.
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Economic inertia from prior investments heavily influences the pace and success of strategic change.
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The 'innovate, leverage, commoditize' model drives ecosystems by turning proprietary components into public utilities enabling external innovation.
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Doctrines like transparency and challenging assumptions facilitate better strategy conversations in executive teams.
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Co-creation in mapping strategy is essential; only domain insiders can create meaningful strategy maps effectively.
Notable Quotes
"Very few people in business are able to understand or familiar with the concept of situational awareness unless they served in the military."
"I was literally making up our strategy even though the company was profitable and growing."
"Strategy as a service: you just type in a URL and it will generate a strategy based on nothing whatsoever."
"If I don’t have a map, I can’t see the landscape, I can’t see the patterns impacting it, and I’m left only with purpose and blind action."
"Space has meaning in a map — moving components changes the map's meaning, unlike diagrams where space is arbitrary."
"There is no such thing as one-size-fits-all methods; what works depends on the component’s evolutionary stage."
"The Red Queen effect means you have no choice but to adapt as others evolve faster."
"Political capital is critical; good strategy without support will be crushed in large organizations."
"Only people who work intimately in a space can effectively map that space; outsiders cannot produce useful strategy maps."
"Maps force people to write down and challenge assumptions, improving transparency and strategy robustness."
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