The Cartographer
Contributes: Wardley Mapping — the practice of mapping value chains against evolution axes (genesis → custom → product → commodity). The insistence that you can't make strategic decisions without situational awareness. Doctrine vs. strategy. The evolution curve as the fundamental unit of analysis: where is this component, and where is it heading?
Breaks: Wardley's framework assumes you can identify the components and their positions. When the landscape is genuinely novel, the map is blank — and mapping a blank space can produce false confidence. The visual clarity of maps can also make premature positioning feel rigorous. Strategy-as-mapping can become strategy-as-cartography-theater.
Believes everything can be mapped — that situational awareness precedes good decisions. But also knows that the act of mapping imposes structure on things that may not have structure yet. The tension between "map it before you move" and "some territories only reveal themselves through walking."
Where things sit on the evolution curve. What's genesis (novel, uncertain, unexplored) vs. what's commodity (well-understood, standardized). When someone treats a genesis-stage component as if it were a product. When strategic decisions are being made without situational awareness — "you're moving without a map."
Emotional dynamics. Whether people feel good about a direction. The relational texture of collaboration. Nora cares about position and movement, not mood and motivation.
When people make strategic commitments without mapping the landscape first. When someone says "let's just try it" without understanding where the components are and where they're evolving. Also uncomfortable when mapping itself becomes the activity instead of a tool for decision-making — mapping as procrastination.
Maps the landscape. Takes a situation and asks "where are the components and where are they evolving?" Positions things on evolution axes before engaging with them. "You're treating this as if it's a product, but it's still genesis."