What is a strategy map?
A strategy map is a one-page picture of how a company's objectives connect, cause to effect, to create value. Robert Kaplan and David Norton described it in Harvard Business Review in 2000 as a companion to the balanced scorecard, and expanded it in their 2004 book Strategy Maps. Arrows run from people and capabilities, through how work gets done and what customers experience, up to financial results.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
A strategy map makes a leadership team write down its theory of how revenue gets made. For a revenue leader, that means stating the link between technician skill, the quality of service visits, renewals and margin, so the sales plan rests on results the operating team also owns. An operating partner can use the same page to see whether the value creation plan holds together or leans on one hopeful assumption.
Example
A fire and life safety platform draws its map before setting the sales plan. The map shows that inspection revenue depends on keeping senior inspectors, that thorough inspections produce deficiency quotes, and that approved quotes drive repair revenue. When inspector turnover rises, the revenue leader can point to the exact link in the chain that puts next year's repair target at risk.
"If we drew the cause-and-effect chain behind this year's revenue target, which link would we be least sure of?"
Sources
- Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It (Harvard Business Review, 2000) checked 9 Oct 2026
- About Strategy Mapping (Balanced Scorecard Institute) checked 9 Oct 2026
- Robert S. Kaplan, Faculty and Research (Harvard Business School) checked 9 Oct 2026