2 Mapping Situations*

In this chapter we propose some new tools for mapping systems development projects. Maps—as we propose them—contain descriptions and interpretations of project situations: they are helpful in collecting and organizing relevant, often neglected knowledge and experience. Maps are cognitive constructs containing pictures that actors make of the situation in which they are involved. They are typically made within the situation or transposed from similar situations and are used by the actors themselves as tools for exploring, for learning, for increasing awareness, for inventing solutions to problems, and for undertaking action. Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? “Choruses from the Rock”