One Map, Many Eyes: Learning To See What Surrounds You
When the environment around you keeps shifting, it’s tempting to stay heads-down and react to whatever comes next. But that approach has a cost. You end up making decisions based on partial information and assumptions you haven’t examined. Your team may be operating from different pictures of reality without realizing it.
Here’s the paradox: preparing for change begins not by focusing on where you want to go, but by getting clear on where you actually are.
This is where a Context of Change Map becomes useful!
A Context of Change Map is a simple visual tool that helps you and your team step back and see the landscape surrounding a change you’re considering. It makes implicit assumptions explicit. It surfaces what different people are noticing—and what’s being missed.
The map has four main parts:
- The change being considered: Is this about positioning for growth, maintaining your current course through continuous improvement, or responding to challenges and threats?
- The environment: What’s happening inside and outside your organization that shapes the need for this change?
- The emerging and unknown: What trends are developing, and what uncertainties remain unclear?
- Energy flow: What forces might propel this change forward, and what forces might create resistance?
The real power comes when you build this map together. Each person brings a different vantage point. One colleague sees internal dynamics you’ve missed. Another notices an external trend that changes the picture. By assembling your observations in a shared display, you move from scattered impressions to collective understanding.
And then you can explore the questions that matter most:
“What pathways are available to us in this context?”
That question—asked with curiosity—opens the door to creative exploration of what’s needed and what’s possible.
I’ve developed the Mapping the Context of Change Toolkit to help you try this with your own team. It includes a visual template, reflection questions, and guidance for facilitating the conversation.
We’re all navigating uncertainty. Seeing the landscape together makes the path forward clearer.
Download the toolkit with ideas for each step.
Ready to Go Deeper?
Developing a Context of Change Map benefits from additional perspectives – especially those from an outsider!
- If you want to explore what it can look like to have support, book a complimentary 30-minute strategy call.