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The humble map is the foundation for true understanding and alignment
The combination of words and a visual representation is unbeatable when discussing complex issues
Maps. We use them all the time, often without giving them a second thought. We use them to get where we need to be, to check the weather, to plan a new kitchen or bathroom in our house, to understand what the robot vacuum has been up to, to locate a stolen cargo bike (fitted with GPS) and so on, and so on. A map shows relations between important variables, often positions of entities within a certain space. In design, mapping is also used for example to capture relations between events in time, and between different actors as in a customer journey map or a service blueprint. While customer journey mapping has by now become one of the most prominent approaches to understand and improve customer services and relations, we feel that the humble map itself remains a bit undervalued. Mapping is of course not the new gold, since that would be a graceless platitude, but the value of maps in building a shared understanding and focused discussion between different flavours of people, cannot be overestimated.
Align worldviews by looking at the same thing
We often talk, using the same words, but with a different understanding of what those words mean exactly
We feel that the future of maps is bright. In digital innovation and transformation, there are a lot of different people, with different worldviews, different occupational ideologies, and different blindspots. These people need to acquire a shared understanding on problems to be solved, solution concepts, etc. while looking at the world through entirely different eyes. And that's tough. The only way to align them is to have them look at the same thing, and let them explain how they perceive and experience e.g. different process steps. We strongly feel that without maps this a nearly impossible to achieve. That's why at WeAreReasonablePeople we spend a lot of time and effort in mapping complex systems. Service Blueprints, Customer Journey maps, but also Data flow maps, and IT blueprints. They are the key to alignment, to shared understanding and progress.
