January 15, 2026
Many promising initiatives slow down not because the idea is flawed but because the conditions around it were never assessed. Teams move forward with energy, only to find unclear roles, insufficient evidence, or missing feedback loops blocking progress. Good strategy meets real-world complexity, and the work stalls.
The MAPLES framework offers a practical way to assess delivery readiness before momentum turns into commitment. It invites leaders to examine six elements that shape implementation: methods, actions, people, learning, evidence, and systems.
Choose the right method for the challenge. Adaptive work requires approaches that can evolve.
Support people doing the work. Delivery depends on clarity, capability, and capacity.
Embed learning from the start. Systems shift through cycles of testing, reflection, and adjustment.
Across our recent engagements, we have used MAPLES to help partners understand why promising initiatives struggled to gain traction. In several instances, teams discovered they lacked a feedback loop or had not clarified who could make which decisions. Addressing these gaps early helped create more grounded implementation paths. This pattern is consistent with findings from New Zealand’s Better Public Services reforms, where readiness assessments reduced delivery delays and helped agencies learn faster.
MAPLES is not a bureaucratic checkpoint. It is a discipline for learning early, strengthening delivery conditions, and adjusting before momentum turns into risk.
Apply MAPLES to pressure-test an initiative already in motion - especially one under political or time pressure.
“Plans are guesses. Learning is real.”
- Karl Weick
