Agreement Debt & Performance Map
I use this simple mapping approach in sessions with stakeholders, together with my Agreement Card Deck, to make agreement patterns visible within a system. It is a visual prompt for locating agreement patterns and a shared surface for inquiry. It is not a diagnostic tool or an assessment of departments or people.
How I use it
Start with the Agreement Card Deck: We use the cards to discuss concrete coordination situations. People pick a card that resonates and share one real example.
Place the map on the wall: As examples emerge, participants mark where they “live” in the system:
Red = areas where Agreement Debt seems to accumulate (recurring friction, compensation work, slow decisions)
Green = areas where agreements build flow and performance capacity (clarity, smoother handovers, learning that sticks)
Keep it evidence-led: My method is simple: treat what we see as a working explanation, validate it with observable traces, and then agree on a single small experiment to test it.
That is it. The map is another practical way to make agreements discussable.
