Doctrine

Wardley Mapping Doctrine is a set of 40 universal principles for strategic success, focusing on situational awareness, user needs, and adaptability in dynamic environments.

Doctrine emphasizes small, iterative steps, efficiency, and removing bias. It provides a framework for organizations to navigate and compete effectively by focusing on transparency, appropriate methodologies, embracing failure, and empowering teams.

What is Doctrine?

Doctrine represents a comprehensive set of best practices that work in every situation, for every organization. These principles are universally applicable - no reasonable person can argue that principles like "Know your users" or "Challenge assumptions" should be ignored.

Why "Doctrine" Instead of "Principles"?

The word "Doctrine" originates from Sun Tzu's "Art of War" translation and has been adapted by Simon Wardley for modern strategy. For mappers, Doctrine is not a scary word but a set of universally applicable principles that work in every situation, for every organization.

Think of it: Can any reasonable person argue that principles such as 'Know your users' or 'Challenge assumptions' should be ignored? It just does not make sense. That makes them universally applicable.

Every single organization should have these principles covered. Unfortunately, they often don't because they are not aware this is something they should manage.

Simon Wardley identified forty universal principles, and for many organizations, this is a breakthrough because they can finally talk about their internal processes.

The Four Phases of Doctrine

Doctrine principles are organized into four phases, each building upon the previous:

Phase I: Foundation Principles

Focus: Communication, Development, Operation, Learning

Key Principles:

• Common Language: Effective collaboration requires a shared language
• Challenge Assumptions: Allow people to ask questions and challenge assumptions
• Understand What Is Being Considered: Focus on awareness to improve performance
• Know Your Users: Any value we create is through meeting the needs of others
• Focus on User Needs: Essential part of mapping is the anchor of user needs
• Remove Bias and Duplication: Eliminate custom-built commodities and redundant systems
• Use Appropriate Methods: Avoid one-size-fits-all approaches
• Know the Details: Use small teams and break large landscapes into small contracts
• Bias Towards Data: Provide consistent measurement against outcomes
• Bias Towards Open: Share maps and allow others to challenge assumptions

Phase II: Building Capability

Focus: Communication, Development, Operation, Learning, Leading, Structure

Key Principles:

• Focus on the Outcome: Focus on what you are trying to achieve
• Think Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained and Elegant (FIRE): Act quickly, use inexpensive components
• Manage Failure: Every system has risks - understand failure modes
• Effectiveness Over Efficiency: Optimizing is important but don't forget the big picture
• Bias Towards Action: Doing is the ultimate way of learning
• Move Fast: An imperfect plan executed today is better than a perfect one tomorrow
• Strategy Is Iterative: Focus on iterative, adaptable strategies
• Think Small Teams: Break everything into small teams
• Distribute Power and Decision Making: Distribute power to those closest to decision-making
• Think Aptitude and Attitude: Combine skills with cultural approaches

Phase III: Optimization

Focus: Operation, Learning, Leading, Structure

Key Principles:

• Optimise Flow: Remove bottlenecks and improve throughput
• Do Better With Less: Bias towards continual improvement
• Set Exceptional Standards: Don't settle for as good as competitors
• Bias Towards the New: Have a bias towards the new, be curious
• Commit to the Direction: Once you've set a direction, commit to it
• Be the Owner: Take responsibility for your environment and actions
• Inspire Others: Think small for actions, big for inspiration
• Embrace Uncertainty: Avoid believing you can plan the future
• Be Humble: Listen, be selfless, show fortitude
• Seek the Best: Find and nurture the best people
• Provide Purpose, Mastery & Autonomy: Each team should be autonomous

Phase IV: Advanced Strategy

Focus: Learning, Leading, Structure

Key Principles:

• Listen to Your Ecosystem: Ecosystems offer various exploitation methods
• Exploit The Landscape: Use the landscape to your advantage
• There Is No Core: Everything is transient
• There Is No Single Culture: Cultivate multiple cultures within the organization
• Design for Constant Evolution: Teams may be semi-permanent, but their work evolves

How to Use Doctrine

There are two primary ways to use doctrine:

1. Improving Your Operations

Your team should go through the list of principles and evaluate how well your organization is performing in each area. It's useful to separate management into a different group and check whether perspectives are aligned.

Evaluation Method:

• Red - Poor
• Green - Good
• Amber - Improvement possible
• White - No data

The diagnosis part remains the same. To implement changes, realize it will take time. Forty doctrine principles is a lot, and trying to introduce all of them in one go would end in an inevitable crash. That's why the doctrine principles are split into four phases.

2. Evaluating Competitors

Use doctrine to assess your competitors' ability to respond to market changes. The expectations are that organizations that are poor at doctrine are poor in business because they cannot react to market changes even if their existing business looks good.

Key Insights

Universal Applicability

• Every organization should have these principles covered
• They work in every situation, for every organization
• No reasonable person can argue against core principles like "Know your users"

Implementation Strategy

• Start with Phase I, then Phase II, then Phase III, and finally Phase IV
• Later phases require earlier phases to work
• Don't try to implement all 40 principles at once

Value of Discussion

• There is a lot of value in the discussion that emerges while evaluating doctrine
• Different perspectives between management and teams can reveal important insights
• The evaluation process itself creates awareness and alignment

Strategic Implications

Competitive Advantage

Organizations with strong doctrine execution are more dangerous competitors and better places to work. They can react to market changes effectively and maintain competitive advantage.

Risk Management

Poor doctrine execution creates vulnerability - organizations cannot react to market changes even if their existing business looks good.

Organizational Health

Doctrine provides a framework for organizations to finally talk about their internal processes in a structured way, leading to improved alignment and effectiveness.

Application to Wardley Mapping

When mapping doctrine:

• Map current state: Where is your organization on each principle?
• Identify gaps: Which principles are poorly implemented?
• Prioritize improvements: Focus on Phase I principles first
• Track progress: Use the color-coded evaluation system
• Align teams: Ensure management and operational teams have aligned perspectives

Key Principles for Success

1. Start with Phase I - Build the foundation before moving to advanced principles
2. Evaluate honestly - Use the color system to assess current state
3. Focus on discussion - The evaluation process creates value through alignment
4. Implement gradually - Don't try to change everything at once
5. Measure progress - Track improvements over time

Conclusion

Doctrine provides a comprehensive framework for organizational success through 40 universal principles. By systematically evaluating and implementing these principles across four phases, organizations can improve their ability to compete, adapt, and succeed in dynamic environments.

The key is to start with the foundation principles, build capability gradually, and use the evaluation process to create alignment and awareness across the organization.

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Doctrine provides the foundation for strategic success. Learn more about value chains, evolution stages, and the ILC model to understand how doctrine fits into broader strategic thinking.