Coherence Mapping
If teams use a shared visual map to locate tensions in relation to their energy and emotional tone, and they revisit and reflect on those tensions regularly, then they tend to deepen their learning, notice shifts, and act with more coherence.
When teams surface tensions, they often lose track of them, forgetting what sparked energy or confusion in the first place. Without a shared way to hold, revisit, and make sense of tensions over time, learning fragments and action becomes reactive. Coherence Mapping offers a durable artefact that allows teams to place, reflect on, and adapt tensions as part of an ongoing inquiry.
How to use this pattern
Coherence Mapping is used in three recurring ways:
Placement
Tensions are named and placed in one of five zones based on their current energy or experiential feel:
Generative Tension – creative stretch, energising
Chaotic Buzz – noise, scatter, overstimulation
Draining Friction – slow erosion, repetitive strain
Resigned Stuckness – inertia, helplessness
Liminal Space – uncertain, emerging, transitional
Discussion
Facilitated dialogue explores what each placement reveals. Teams ask:
Why does this tension sit here?
What’s keeping it in this zone?
What would it take for it to move?
Or is it okay where it is for now?
Reflection and Adaptation
Over time, tensions are:
Remixed – merged with others or reframed
Withdrawn – if no longer relevant or active
Adapted – moved across zones to reflect current dynamics
This makes the map a living artefact of ongoing learning.
Affordances
Named zones offer intuitive anchors for emotional tone and group energy
Acts as memory across sessions, surfacing shifts that might otherwise go unnoticed
May be misused as a diagnostic or maturity model.
Stances
The Learner: observes how tensions evolve and what they’re teaching the team
The Explorer: looks for movement between zones and the meaning behind it
The Skeptic: challenges whether tensions are being placed truthfully or performatively
The Connector: draws links between mapped tensions, noticing shared roots or consequences