Stage 01 · TriggerEvent
A trigger enters the system — a result, a signal, a shift in the landscape. Every cycle starts here, and the first question is simply: did we see it coming?
From event to terrain — a loop that never closes
Every consequential situation begins the same way: something happens, and the first question is whether it was expected. What follows is a disciplined route from raw event to mapped terrain — classifying the unexpected, stabilising the chaotic, and characterising the ground before deciding on it. The cycle does not end with an answer; monitoring continues, and the next surprise re-enters at the top. Hover any stage to read it, or play the loop to watch it run.
Interactive · hover a stage
How to read itThe map is a cycle
Hover or tap any stage to read what it does and see how it connects. Press Play the loop to watch a single situation travel from event to mapped terrain — including the detour that chaos forces — before the cycle begins again.
Every stage, in full
The same content as the interactive circuit above, written out for reading straight through — this is also what the captions above are built from.
Stage 02 · SurpriseUnexpected
The event fell outside expectation. Before acting, it must be characterised: what kind of problem is this? That is the next stage’s job.
Stage 02 · KnownExpected
The event fell inside the anticipated envelope. No re-framing is needed — the system moves straight to mapping terrain it already understands.
Stage 03 · Sense-makingSituation distiller
The unexpected event is sorted into one of five domains — clear, complicated, complex, chaotic, or disorder. The right response depends entirely on which kind of situation you are actually in. Ordered domains pass forward to terrain mapping; chaotic and disorder are diverted to act-first stabilisation.
Stage 04 · Act & assessBDA
Chaotic and disordered situations cannot be analysed into clarity. You act to stabilise, assess what that action changed — Battle Damage Assessment — and feed the result back into sense-making until the situation becomes tractable.
Stage 05 · Map outwardIPB
Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield. With the situation understood — or already expected — you characterise the external terrain: the actors, the constraints, and the ground on which the decision will play out.
Stage 05 · Map inwardWardley
Wardley mapping turns the lens inward, onto your own position: the value chain and how evolved each component is — showing where you actually stand on the terrain you have just mapped.
Stage 06 · OutputTerrain mapped
The ground is now characterised, outward and inward. The loop never truly closes — monitoring continues, and the next event that breaks expectation re-enters at the top.