In such a world the ability to think strategically, instead of blindly following the status quo, is essential to leadership. In a crack in history Strategic mapping rather than strategic thinking or strategic planning is the way to the future. Strategic mappers are like Lewis and Clark or the Star Trek generation, wandering through an unknown wilderness, charting courses where no protestant has been before. Contrary to our computer generated maps, their maps are simple and are added to and enhanced by those who come after them. Strategic mapping is not a linear extrapolation of the past into the future.
Strategic mappers care more about where they are going than where they are have been.
Their focus is on the future and how present actions can actually be a partner in making the anticipated future a reality. Strategic mapping is learning to anticipate the random, changing needs of the next generation and developing ministries to meet those needs before the needs arise. Strategic mapping is learning to identify the routes to the future and avoiding the detours and side roads that do not position us to be effective in the future. It is the ability to understand the clues to the future and place ourselves at the major intersections of the future instead of being stranded on some dead end trail. Strategic mapping is done by teams of people who know they are lost in a wilderness.