Defining Scope and Boundaries 

To keep the level of detail manageable it is important to

define the boundaries of the mapping activity.

Think carefully about what level of detail you would like to capture. You may need to create maps at several different levels and convene somewhat different groups of people each time.

The level of detail depends on what your focus question is. Value network mapping works for a ground-level view, a rooftop view, or a helicopter view. Some questions are at the workgroup level, others address managerial-level relationships, and others might look strategically at the whole organization.

There are three basic steps for getting to a good scope for the mapping:

1. Have a clear purpose.
2. Define the boundaries.
3. Determine the level of detail.

Use the term "activity" instead of "process." Process is a narrow focus on formal steps. Activity evokes images of all the people who are stakeholers in the activity, and will help you better define the real scope and boundaries.

Step 1: Have a clear purpose for the mapping activity.

"Patient and provider feedback for product development..." - provides a tight focus for the mapping. It refers to a clear, specific activity - feedback - where we can trace the pathway of feedback through the value network.

Not only is it a clear activity but the roles are also very clear: "patients," "sales and marketing," and "product developer."

Now we have already identified several roles and a specific activity as a starting point.

See PharmCo in the Case Studies chapter.

Step 2: Define the boundaries of the map.

The thing to remember about boundaries is that we just make them up. Some of the greatest insights work groups have when mapping an activity are surfaced in their dialogue about where to draw the boundary of the system.

Depending on a particular work team's vantage point, the boundaries of the system they are trying to understand will look very different from those drawn by another work team when focused on a different activity.

This is perfectly all right. The purpose of a system map is as a tool for understanding and communication. Its value lies in making explicit people's "mental models" of how the system works. The map is a vehicle for surfacing different ideas of what the system is and is not, what people think is going on in the system, and what they believe adds or creates value.

The "busy brain" technique

Value networks activate differently in different phases or stages - similar to the way the human brain activates in different patterns according to whether one is doing mathematics or listening to music. This approach defines boundaries by considering the activity as phases or stages.

For example, an innovation network bringing scientific discoveries to commercialization is one basic kind of value network. Yet there are different phases in the activity where different roles are activated or the nature of the exchanges might be different. 

In a project for the European Commission four key phases surfaced in innovation networks: Research, Community Building, Market Validation, and Commercialization. The roles remained the same from one phase to the next but they were activated quite differently. In that case the project was more manageable by looking at the network by mapping each of the four different phases separately - eventually merged into one visual overall map. See Regional Innovation Networks in the Case Studies chapter.

The "neighborhood" technique

We always like to say, "The center of the network is where you are!" People understand the network from where they sit, their own neighborhood. Sometimes the simplest approach for large value networks is to take sub-activities and have people map their own role neighborhood. Then the maps can easily be merged where any two networks share a role.

In a very large-scale company reorganization one company managed the complexity of the network of literally dozens of roles by first mapping different "neighborhoods" or "flows" within the network - and then gradually merging the maps through the role connections into one large network configuration. See The Boeing Company in the Case Studies chapter. 

Step 3: Determine the level of detail.

You need to think carefully about what level of detail you would like to capture.

The "zoom" technique

Think "zoom!" We are all familiar with the easy-to-use "zoom" feature on Google Maps. Do you want a "street level" view, a "neighborhood" view, "city," "state," or "country?" Detail is omitted as the map is scaled up.

For example, one level of mapping might show the six or seven individuals in a work group such as the Market Research team.

A next-level map might show the Marketing Department as a whole, where Market Researcher is just one role along with Lead Identifier, Materials Developer, Advertising Planner, Distributor, and the Leadership Team.

In a higher level of mapping the Marketing Department itself might show up as one role in a map that would show the interactions between Sales, Marketing, Lead Suppliers, Advertising Agents, and one or two categories of Customers. 

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