Our Approach: Autonomous & dynamic decisions

2. Mapmaking

 

Summary of our mapmaking process -

1. A case example
2. The core elements of mapmaking
3. Check the two navigation maps on this topic

Example: Detrimental opportunity

An independent association received the offer to launch and operate a global initiative that would include the participation of transnational corporations, national governments, multilateral organisms and civil society organizations in various regions. The theme seemed cutting edge, the financing was guaranteed and the matter urgent. Representatives of the different sectors had already signaled their dedication. A mere gut-level feeling of the association's director led to a time-out before accepting the offer. While the initial concerns focused on operational capacities and technical processes, a short and intense evaluation of the opportunity resulted in a radically different view and development.

We began with mapping the apparent challenges , including the operational and technical considerations typical for any multi-sector initiative. They key elements of the opportunity - timing, thematic thrust, coincidence of interests, and available intellectual and material resources - seemed to suggest a definite now-or-never Yes. However, a different picture emerged as we then moved on to mapping the underlying parameters and beliefs of each sector involved, the core dilemmas of the various actors and - below the obvious conflicts-of-interests - the 'world views', ethical presumptions and mental conditions.

The initiative, we concluded jointly with the association, was based on radical delegations of responsibility and on the - probably unconscious - projected images of each sector onto all others. The undertaking would, in other words, most likely have detrimental effects in the long run, despite its probable 'success' in the visible scene.

We mapped the limits of vision inherent to the various established systems, the range of action possible under such limits, and the elementary and contradictory energies in play. This opened a new field of thought altogether. The association developed a radically different course of action. As a natural consequence of this work of a few weeks, the association also came up with a set of navigation maps for its own strategic development and operational structure.

Core elements of mapmaking

The core elements of our mapmaking with you include:

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