Collectively map your current environment and then change things to make what you would like to have happen more likely.
Estuarine Mapping helps you manage the evolutionary potential of the present. It’s a counterpoint to the common approach called “backcasting”, where we define a target state and aim to close the gap. I wrote about some of the problems with backcasting for JP Castlin’s newsletter: Then & Now. If those issues sound familiar and you’re ready for a change, come join us in the estuary!
Imagine if your leadership team could walk into a room and emerge after two half days of workshops with a crisp portfolio of actionable and effective micro-projects for your teams to start working on.
Those attending won’t need to align on a vision, nor will they duke it out until one agenda triumphs over the rest. They’ll just need a vague agreement that things aren’t as good as they’d like and that they want to do something about it.
The micro-projects that they emerge with will deliver one of the following:
This workshop pulls people completely out of backcasting for a short while, but the outputs can easily be incorporated back into most normal business processes. This makes it excellent as a “pre-process” that generates strategic signals to help leadership teams backcast more effectively.
You will need a facilitator who’s experienced in this method, as it’s a non-trivial workshop to run. We can help.
If you’ve got a strategy session planned and you’re looking for something new and dazzlingly effective, grab a slot here and let’s talk about whether this method could be suitable for you: https://tidycal.com/tom.kerwin/25-minute-coffee
If you’re here from Product Quest Podcast, hi! Here are resources about Estuarine Mapping: