Step 2: System Mapping (Part 2)

Standard Map Types

While there are no official standard maps, the following types play a role in nearly every project:

Map	Type	Purpose
Material and Energy Flow Map	Context	Shows major energy and material flows
Stakeholder Map	Context	Shows major stakeholders and their relationships to the challenge
Organizational Hierarchy	Context	Shows who controls which teams and departments
Trend Map	Time	Plots critical societal parameters over time
Project Timeline / Route Map	Time	Overview of intended actions toward the goal
Programmatic Plan Map	Space	Shows relevant program elements in physical space

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Deeper Map Types

Network Maps

Once you have mapped objects and their relations (bottom-up), a network analysis may be valuable. Network analysis does not concern itself with individual objects. It analyzes the network that emerges from their interrelations.

For example, you can create network maps to analyze specific network parameters: the transparency of information in an organization, connectivity between areas of a city, or the diversity of elements in a system. Network maps give insight into a higher level of a system's operation.

An additional network-level check using the SiD network parameters (such as Connectivity, Redundancy, Awareness, Flexibility, Transparency, Complexity, Centrality, Diversity) can be useful for scanning optimization opportunities.

Causal Loop Diagrams

Causal loop diagrams (CLDs) follow specific rules to investigate and communicate systemic behavior. Elements have relationships drawn between them, indicating whether the effect is positive (+) or negative (-). Reinforcing loops that accelerate behavior are marked with R. Balancing loops that counteract acceleration are marked with B. These maps reveal feedback dynamics that would be invisible in lists or tables.

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Mapping Tips

• Use a multi-disciplinary team. Different backgrounds enhance the quality of system maps.
• Ugly is fine. If a sketch provides the necessary insight, it has done its job. Beautiful maps are for communication. Sloppy napkin sketches work if they work.
• System maps are not infographics. Infographics simplify information for display. System maps add insight through an expansive process. They are different skills.
• Experiment freely. You love Excel tables? Go for it. You organize potted plants in your garden to organize your mind? More power to you.
• Do not rush. As a primary tool, system maps deserve time. Let them sink in. Allow time to redraw.
• Account for externalities. You are always excluding things that may have an influence. Acknowledge their existence on each map, even if you cannot quantify them.

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System Immersion

System maps create understanding of the system and allow you to develop an integrated view step by step. Mapping the system completely is impossible. The goal is a global overview that allows you to evaluate behavior and search for system-wide solutions.

After familiarizing yourself with all dimensions, scales, and aspects, it is time to immerse yourself in the dynamics and develop a "feeling" for the system's behavior. From this immersion, you can find solutions that shift the existing state to a sustainable state. The next chapter (2.3, System Understanding) describes how to do this, both individually and as a team.

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Exercise: One-Hour ELSI/Stakeholder Map

Here is a guided exercise for making a stakeholder system map using the ELSI-8 framework. It can be used to practice or run as a workshop.

A stakeholder map is a visual representation of relationships between parties surrounding an issue. Its purpose: at-a-glance insight into the network of relationships, enabling multi-disciplinary teams to create precise intervention strategies in limited time.

Step 1: Ask the problem owner (5 minutes). List the main stakeholders and their relationship to the project as the problem owner sees them. The source may be biased, but it is a fast starting point.

Step 2: Stakeholder brainstorm (10 minutes). On a flip chart, write down all stakeholders that come to mind. Brainstorm rules apply.

Step 3: ELSI brainstorm (10 minutes). Repeat the brainstorm, but now think of stakeholders in each ELSI-8 category. Draw the eight categories as large squares on a flip chart and place post-its with stakeholder names in each. This "fills out" the stakeholder pool.

Step 4: Prioritize (10 minutes). Underline all stakeholders who are the largest benefactor, problem owner, or influencer.

Step 5: Sketch and choose a map structure (10 minutes). Consider what format serves the problem: a timeline, a geographical map, a spiderweb context-relationship map. Sketch ideas, discuss, and choose.

Step 6: Build the map structure (15 minutes). Execute the chosen structure with post-its on a central sheet. For a context-relationship map, write the project's focus in the center, place primary stakeholders nearby, and group them by relationship type (government, private, business, individuals).

Step 7: Refine (30 minutes). Add secondary stakeholders outward from each primary one. Draw connections. For a supermarket, a primary stakeholder is a supplier. A secondary stakeholder is the supplier's supplier, or their investors.

Step 8: Iterate. Review the map. Is it clear? Is its structure revealing? If not, consider a different map type or reclustering. Each iteration consists of the above steps, some done quickly (do we need more stakeholders?) and some requiring a complete redraw.

Let your creativity loose and experiment. A rubbish map is a useful map, because it shows what does not work. The most important part of system mapping is the process itself, through which you and your team become the masters of the subject.

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Takeaway

System mapping is not about drawing pretty pictures. It is about building shared understanding of complex reality. Start rough, iterate, and do not limit your scope. The maps are a means to insight, and the process of making them is often where the real insight happens.

Next: Chapter 2.3 takes you into Step 3, System Understanding, where you move from having maps to truly grasping how the system behaves.