Is This Simon Wardley's Site? / Is This a Scam?

This is NOT Simon Wardley's official site. Simon's site is at swardleymaps.com.

This is wardleymaps.com, a community resource run by the author with Simon's explicit support and encouragement.

Why This Confusion Happens

I started this website in 2013 to help the Wardley Mapping community grow. At the time, mapping was a niche topic, and I was one of the few early adopters. Simon has always been clear that he has no interest in building or maintaining websites himself, explicitly encouraging the community to take on that role instead.

Simon's Position on Community Growth

Simon Wardley has been very clear about his desire to see the Wardley Mapping community grow and flourish. In a recent LinkedIn post, Simon directly addressed this topic and clarified his position:

"Wardley Mapping has always been open under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike licence (CC BY-SA), which means others are free to use and adapt the material (with proper attribution). That's as intended."

Who Runs This Site?

I, the author, have worked with Simon Wardley for over a decade and have extensive experience applying Wardley Mapping in practice. Check my recent talk:

Creative Commons License

Simon has made his work available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license (CC BY-SA). This means:

Anyone can use the material for any purpose
Anyone can adapt and build upon the work
Proper attribution must be given to Simon Wardley
Derivative works must be shared under the same license

This is not accidental - it's intentional. Simon wants his work to spread and be built upon by the community.

Community Encouragement

Simon explicitly encourages community members to:

Build websites and resources about Wardley Mapping
Write books and create educational content
Develop tools and applications
Share experiences and case studies
Organize conferences and events

As Simon states in his post:

"I encourage others to build sites, tools, write books and share experiences. I'm not the one doing this, the community is."

Does Simon Benefit?

While Simon makes no money from community sites like this, he does benefit indirectly - more people learning Wardley Mapping strengthens the entire community and methodology. This is exactly what he wants.

As he says: "Mapping is a community, it is not some money making machine for myself. It's a gift."

Additionally, a strong and growing community reinforces the credibility of the methodology, which benefits everyone involved, including Simon.

Our Approach

This site operates within Simon's vision of Wardley Mapping community:

Proper attribution to Simon Wardley throughout
Educational focus to help people learn Wardley Mapping
Community spirit aligned with Simon's vision
Transparency about our purpose and approach

The Community Ecosystem

Simon acknowledges and supports a diverse ecosystem of Wardley Mapping resources, including:

His own site at swardleymaps.com
Community sites like learnwardleymapping.com (run by Ben Mosior)
Tools like Online Wardley Maps and Map Keep
Books and conferences created by community members

Conclusion

This site exists to serve the Wardley Mapping community with educational content and resources. We operate with Simon's blessing and encouragement, following the principles of open knowledge sharing that he has established. The goal is to help more people discover and learn Wardley Mapping, not to profit from Simon's work.

If you have any concerns about our approach or would like to verify our legitimacy, we encourage you to reach out to us directly or consult Simon's own statements about community growth and the Creative Commons nature of his work.

Still Unsure?

If you are still unsure or have specific questions, you can schedule a discovery session to chat directly.