The esynergy Podcast Situational Awareness & Strategy: How Wardley Mapping Helps Leaders Navigate Complexity
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Dec 17, 2025 
Simon Wardley, a strategy researcher and creator of Wardley Maps, shares insights on navigating complexity in leadership. He discusses the importance of situational awareness and mapping to make informed decisions amid rapid changes. The origins of Wardley Mapping, AI's evolution, and common strategic mistakes are highlighted. Simon emphasizes the value of understanding user needs before adopting new technologies and advocates for using mapping in conflict resolution. He suggests games as innovative tools for enhancing strategic thinking.
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Stories Aren't Maps
- Organisations run on narratives and graphs, not true maps, which leaves leaders blind to landscape context.
- Simon Wardley argues there wasn't a practical mapping mechanism, so he created Wardley Maps to provide situational awareness.
How Mapping Began
- Simon discovered Wardley Mapping after reading two versions of Sun Tzu and studying military maps and history.
- He developed a simple, practical mapping method while running a company in 2005 to make sense of strategy.
Flipping The Education Map
- In an education research group the map made no sense until they flipped the perspective and placed government at the top.
- That revealed education focused on producing economic units, not student enlightenment.