Writings
Medium articles and standalone posts by Simon Wardley.
On the question of debt
Four types of debt in systems: technical, evolutionary, cognitive, and epistemic — by Simon Wardley.
MediumLLMs are coherence engines, not truth engines
Large Language Models are best understood as coherence engines, not truth engines — by Simon Wardley.
MediumFrom Fair Haven to Technomic Empires.
Why the fuss about conversational programming? Part IV — by Simon Wardley.
MediumOn Reason
On an unreasonable fascination with language, medium, tools and sovereignty — by Simon Wardley.
MediumMap evolution not maturity
Why vendors want you to “map” maturity and why you shouldn’t. — by Simon Wardley.
MediumA quick and easy guide to measurement.
I’m frequently asked, “What are Wardley Maps good for”? Well, they are ideally suited for asking and exploring questions about a dynamic… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWardley Maps and Cynefin
I am occasionally asked how to combine Wardley Maps with Cynefin. They are complementary tools, not a replacement for each other nor… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumHow to organise your teams
The dangerous path to Explorers, Villagers and Town Planners — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWhy open source AI matters.
Why the fuss about conversational programming — Part III — by Simon Wardley.
MediumAre virtual roads the future?
Autonomous vehicles, digital twins, last-mile delivery, ridesharing, micro-mobility, transport hubs, hyperloop, decarbonisation, flying… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWhat is conversational programming?
Why the fuss about conversational programming? Part I. — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWhat is an expert?
I often see examples where people add characteristics to a map or use new definitions for one of the axis. There’s nothing wrong with this… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumRebooting GDS
There has been a lot of chatter recently about rebooting GDS (Government Digital Service). Don’t get me wrong, GDS has made mistakes but… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumBlue pill or red pill?
The strategy cycle is one of those simple mental devices which hides a world of complexity. On the surface, it’s all about observing the… — by Simon Wardley.
Medium… in 11 diagrams
To begin with, understand that strategy is a cycle. As you loop around the cycle then you will learn more about your environment and the… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumMap Camp — Day 1
I tweeted the idea of creating a Map Camp, a place where people who use mapping to understand complex environments can meet up to discuss. — by Simon Wardley.
MediumNear field, far field and the crazy ideas
My future career as a Harmony Designer — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWhy big data and algorithms won't improve business strategy
... for most companies — by Simon Wardley.
MediumA set of principles does not make a strategy
… in world of warcraft or business. — by Simon Wardley.
MediumSomething that will change the world of competition …
(originally posted in October 2014 but I thought it worth a repeat because of AWS Greengrass and its potential applications … a wicked… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumAmazon is eating the software (which is eating the world)
Continuing from my post on the fuss about serverless, I thought I’d riff off Marc Andreessen’s famous statement and explain one possible… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumThe map is not the territory
As the saying goes all models are wrong, some are merely useful. A map is simply an imperfect representation of the territory. This is… — by Simon Wardley.
MediumWhy the fuss about serverless?
To explain this, I’m going to have to recap on some old work with a particular focus on co-evolution. — by Simon Wardley.
MediumHow to master strategy, as simply as I can …
Understand that strategy is a continuous cycle. You don’t have all the information you need, you don’t know all the patterns and there are… — by Simon Wardley.
Medium