wardley-maps.sgit.ai / Resources / Wardley Maps

Wardley Maps — the book (Medium serialisation)

Primary source Live book

#1 of the ten to read first. The primary source, and the chapter that establishes why before how. The CC BY-SA 4.0 licence on it is what makes the whole ecosystem exist.

No screenshot. Either this resource is not in the 30-target capture set, or the capture returned an interstitial rather than the page — which is recorded as a failure rather than published as a screenshot. What was and was not captured.

What it is

The canonical text of the technique, serialised as 19 Medium chapters under the "Wardley Maps" publication. It moves from a narrative of strategic failure ("On Being Lost") through the construction of a map, to doctrine, climatic patterns, gameplay, scenario planning and organisational structure. It is deliberately autobiographical — Wardley describes his own failures as CEO of Fotango, the origin of the technique in 2005, and its refinement at Canonical. It is not a textbook; it is a long argument with worked examples, and it is the source every other resource in this list derives from. The full chapter list, verified: 1. On Being Lost — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-being-lost-2ef5f05eb1ec 2. Finding a Path — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/finding-a-path-cdb1249078c0 3. Exploring the Map — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/exploring-the-map-ad0266fad59b 4. Doctrine — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/doctrine-8bb0015688e5 5. The Play and a Decision to Act — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/the-play-and-a-decision-to-act-8eb796b1dff1 6. Getting Started Yourself — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/getting-started-yourself-e1a359b785a2 7. Finding a New Purpose — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/finding-a-new-purpose-8c60c9484d3b 8. Keeping the Wolves at Bay — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/keeping-the-wolves-at-bay-93de21b6b2f8 9. Charting the Future — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/anticipation-89692e9b0ced 10. I Wasn't Expecting That! — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/i-wasnt-expecting-that-dcfe122a2234 11. A Smorgasbord of the Slightly Useful — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/a-smorgasbord-of-the-slightly-useful-2498a1163dd6 12. The Scenario — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/the-scenario-8bc05feee81 13. Something Wicked This Way Comes — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/something-wicked-this-way-comes-b028d5c607bf 14. To Thine Own Self Be True — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/to-thine-own-self-be-true-543cfe2cd1a 15. On the Practice of Scenario Planning — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-the-practice-of-scenario-planning-49eed8279e90 16. Super Looper — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/round-round-get-around-i-loop-around-d88e865d4337 17. To Infinity and Beyond — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/to-infinity-and-beyond-c7a53ccd2a07 18. Better for Less — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/better-for-less-58fe8c0a3aaa 19. On Playing Chess — https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-playing-chess-2634b825dbac

Limitations

Long (572 pages in the compiled edition), digressive, and structurally uneven. Medium's reading experience is poor for a 19-part work; chapter 9's URL slug ("anticipation") doesn't match its title, which trips up automated indexers. It stops mid-argument — Wardley has said it is unfinished. No index, no glossary, and the diagrams are inline images with no alt text.

The details