Journey Mapping
Journey Mapping
Much of our work in systems thinking is understanding how the current systems structure came to be. This journey mapping activities provides an opportunity to reflect on how events, issues and ways of thinking and understanding have influenced the current system, both from an external and local perspective. As a large group social learning exercise it is particularly valuable in generating dialogue and shared understanding amongst participants of the trends and influences present in the system. The activity is also helpful by enabling both individual contributions, as well as large group pattern identification and sensemaking.
*Note: This process is adapted from Future Search ‘focus on the past’ http://futuresearch.net/about/methodology/
Accessibility:
This activity requires ample space to move around a room
This activity requires participants to engage is sensemaking and pattern recognition
This activity requires participants to read written notes on a large wall space
This activity requires participants to engage is social learning
This activity requires participants to write or draw on their own
Output: The output from the process produces a large scale wall map of events, which can then be captured digitally through tools such as MURAL, IDEAFLIP, or MIRO.
This is a Process: a medium sized activity, there are a series of steps, usually involving several participants, and is used to achieve a specific output often in 1 session.
Investment: low cost, low resources, medium skill, medium time
Outcomes
- Shared understanding of development of the current system
- Supports collaborative capacity of the group through collective sensemaking process
- Recognizes individual ways of knowing and experience while situating this with a larger set of experiences
When and Why Do I Use This
Dynamics: the group sensemaking process asks us to consider how the relationships between multiple events, issues and understandings has interacted to create the current system
Gain clarity: provides insight and collective understanding on the influencing factors of the current system, as derived from a historical perspective
Reflect, learn and adapt: the output from this activity can be returned to and reflected upon when a group is feeling stuck or unclear about why a system is behaving the way it is
Track change: groups working together over a long period of time can continue to add to this journey map as they work together to track long-term influence in the system