#35 Simon Wardley - X Marks the Spot: Navigating Possible Futures

Wow, are we excited to welcome Simon Wardley to The Complexity Lounge? You betcha.

In his talks, Simon, the originator of Wardley Maps, takes the audience on a journey through the realm of strategic planning in the modern business landscape. This talk unveils the powerful utility of Wardley Maps in identifying and targeting strategic objectives, akin to finding treasure in the complex world of business.

The discussion begins with an introduction to the fundamentals of Wardley Maps, emphasizing their role in enhancing situational awareness in decision-making. It then delves into real-world applications, demonstrating how these maps have successfully enabled organizations to change the way they work and challenge what they do. We then explore concepts such as gameplay and strategy before examining how to identify that which really matters.

There will be pirates and, possibly, kittens. And complexity, always complexity.

*Simon Wardley*
Simon is a former CEO, former advisory board member of startups (all now acquired by US Giants), fellow of Open Europe, inventor of Wardley Mapping, twice voted in the top 50 most influential people in the UK IT industry, and a regular conference speaker. As a geneticist with a love of mathematics and a fascination with economics, Simon has always found himself dealing with complex systems, whether it’s in behavioral patterns, environmental risks of chemical pollution, developing novel computer systems, or managing companies.

*Timestamps*
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:40 *Opening Remarks*
00:02:28 Lets have a Presentation
00:03:40 Origin
00:10:44 Maps
00:29:41 Patterns
00:43:01 Change
01:03:42 Play
01:07:34 X Marks the Spot
01:15:16 *Closing Remarks*
01:18:35 QA - Custom Built Commodities
01:21:01 QA - Enshitiffication
01:28:03 QA - EU vs US Economic Thought map
01:30:41 QA - Mapping Stakeholders
01:43:00 Cheat Sheet
01:45:41 QA - Polarization
01:51:58 QA - China / US
01:56:18 QA - Phase Transitions & Diffusion
02:05:49 QA - Coping with Evolution
02:12:24 Summary

*Find Simon*

*References*

*Notes & Quotes*
"One of the beautiful things about a map is, you can challenge something is wrong on a map without challenging the person" - SW
"if you have Anchor, Position, and Consistency of Movement, then you can describe a Landscape - which are what maps are good for" (18:08) - SW
"Maps are useful but imperfect representations of a space" (01:09:21) - SW