Crafting a strategy is no small feat. It took me three failed attempts to finally understand what I was doing wrong. Each misstep taught me something valuable, but it also cost me time, energy, and confidence. My hope is that this article will save you from the same frustration. By the end of this 10-minute read, you’ll learn how to create a strategy that not only makes sense but also drives real results.
Why Writing a Strategy Feels So Hard
When I became a CTO, one of my first tasks was to write an engineering strategy. I poured weeks into crafting a vision that connected our technology, business goals, and competitive landscape. The document was polished and structured around three strategic pillars, brimming with industry buzzwords. I was proud.
But when I presented it to the CEO, he was unimpressed. His feedback? “It should connect to the company and product strategies, not stand alone.”
I revised it, ensuring stronger alignment with the product strategy and incorporating every capability we’d discussed. Yet, my second attempt also fell flat. This time, the CEO noted it lacked tangible actions. I was baffled—hadn’t I outlined where we needed to go?
Determined to get it right, I started from scratch. I read works by strategy experts like Will Larson, Eben Hewitt, and Richard Rumelt. I trimmed the document to six concise pages filled with actionable bullet points. Surely, this time, I had nailed it.
But again, the CEO said it was “a step in the right direction” but still lacked an overarching narrative and solutions to our biggest challenges.
The Eureka Moment: You Have to Draw It
Frustrated, I stumbled upon Simon Wardley’s talk on Wardley Maps. His first failed strategy, full of buzzwords and fluff, mirrored my own. Then he introduced the concept of visualizing strategy as a 2D map.
Wardley Maps use two axes:
Visibility of Value: How apparent a capability’s value is to stakeholders.
Evolution of Capability: The maturity of a capability, from its genesis to commodity status.
For example, a value chain for an artisan tea house might map the visibility of a product (like a cup of tea) and the maturity of its supporting elements (like staff training or supplier relationships).
This approach was a revelation. Humans are naturally skilled at interpreting visual data. By mapping strategy, I could show relationships, challenges, and dynamics in a way that words alone couldn’t convey.
But there was a catch. While Wardley Maps are powerful, they’re not always intuitive to stakeholders unfamiliar with the methodology. This realization pushed me to adapt the concept into something simpler and more actionable: the Wardley-Török Map.
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How to Draw a Strategy in 4 Steps
A Wardley-Török Map enhances traditional strategy visualization by adding two key elements:
1. Threats and Challenges: Placed on an inverted axis to show opposition forces.
2. Time Dynamics: Represented with arrows to show past movements and future plans.
Here’s how to create one:
1. Map Your Value Chain
Start by identifying your core value proposition and the elements that support it. Follow Ben Mosior’s Wardley Map tutorial to map these components, from visible customer-facing features to less-visible foundational capabilities.
2. Identify Threats and Challenges
Think about what could hinder your ability to deliver value. Are there risks in early development stages? Known future disruptions, like rising costs? Place these on the inverted axis to show their visibility and maturity.
3. Add Past Movements
Show how capabilities and threats have evolved over time. Use simple arrows for past movements, but avoid clutter. Focus on significant shifts that impact the system’s current state.
4. Define Future Movements
Map where each element should move to meet your goals. Use blue arrows for threats and red arrows for assets. This step reveals the strategic actions needed to redirect momentum and achieve your objectives.
The resulting map isn’t just a snapshot; it’s a dynamic hypothesis for change.
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Examples of Strategy in Action
1. Overengineering a Feature
Imagine an engineer spends weeks perfecting a feature, only for the manager to discover it doesn’t meet the customer’s minimum requirements. A Wardley-Török Map would have highlighted this misalignment early, showing the gap between customer needs and the engineer’s focus.
2. Misjudging Scalability
A manager asks for the cost of scaling a prototype to mass production. A rushed estimate leads to a crisis when the product is deemed unprofitable. By mapping the threat as an early-stage concern, the team could have addressed the issue with better forecasting, avoiding premature optimization.
3. Prioritizing Product-Market Fit Over Scalability
In some cases, threats like scalability concerns can be acknowledged but deprioritized. A Wardley-Török Map helps clarify when it’s more strategic to focus on launching an MVP to early adopters rather than solving long-term challenges prematurely.
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Lessons from My Three Failures
In hindsight, my failed strategies suffered from clear flaws:
1. Lack of Understanding: My first attempt didn’t deeply connect to our company’s unique value proposition.
2. No Roadmap: My second effort described an ideal future state without explaining how to get there.
3. Static Thinking: My third attempt captured dynamics but failed to propose actionable changes.
The Wardley-Török Map helped me bridge these gaps. It transformed my strategy from a static document into a living, visual hypothesis for action.
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Conclusion: Strategy as a Shared Language
Effective strategy isn’t just for executives. By making strategy visual and intuitive, tools like the Wardley-Török Map empower everyone in an organization to contribute to the conversation.
Remember, strategy is about making informed choices in the face of uncertainty. A well-drawn map not only clarifies those choices but also aligns your team around a shared vision of success.
So grab a pen, start mapping, and watch your strategy come to life.
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