When people talk about building a methodology, the advice often sounds like this:
“You need a step-by-step framework.”
“Create a proven process.”
“Walk people through your signature system.”
It sounds helpful — until you run up against a rigid structure that doesn’t fit.
Especially if your work is deeply relational, nuanced, or tailored to each client.
You start asking:
- But what if every client is different?
- What if I don’t do the same thing every time?
- How do I create a framework that leaves space for discovery, depth, or humanity?
But methodology is not a rigid playbook.
It’s a map.
Methodology as a Map
Back in my Portland days, my friend Matt wrote a book about 100 hikes in the Pacific Northwest. But it wasn’t a turn-by-turn guide.
It was a map of the terrain: elevation gains, trail forks, false summits, entry points, weather patterns, and views worth stopping for.
I hiked a few of those trails, including a frankly terrifying two-day ascent of Mount Adams.
Some hikers camped overnight at a common waypoint. Others pushed to the summit in a single day. Most glissaded down; I had to be walked down, because I was too unsteady to manage the descent alone (a story for another time).
There were shared landmarks — Lunch Counter, the final pitch — but no two groups navigated the climb the same way.
And yet, it wasn’t random.
The map told you:
- Where you were headed
- What to expect along the way
- What to bring
- What to avoid
Your methodology works the same way.
It maps:
- The terrain your clients are moving through
- The tools and guidance you bring to the journey
- The signals and decisions that matter most to the goal
And it’s not just how you guide; it’s where you guide, and why.
You might choose to map the Pacific Northwest or the Appalachian Trail, each with very different climates. In my work, I’ve chosen to map the terrain for solo and small experts growing knowledge-based businesses, because others have mapped the terrain for business growth for larger orgs or SaaS businesses.
You might chart a course for alpine climbing (showcasing a linear ascent path) or outline the landscape for mushroom foraging (built around seasonal patterns and collection tools).
Different terrains mean different tools, risks, pace, and priorities.
Different objectives shift what you highlight, name, or skip entirely.
Same topic, different maps
Let’s say two coaches both specialize in leadership.
Coach A: The First-Time Manager Guide
This coach works with new managers stepping into their first leadership role. Moving off the path of individual contributor and into the unfamiliar brush.
This map includes:
- Tools: giving feedback, managing performance, learning to delegate
- Inner work: people-pleasing, navigating conflict, peer-to-leader shifts
- Waypoints: “I gave my first piece of critical feedback” or “I ran a team meeting without chaos”
Coach B: The Executive Strategist
This coach supports senior leaders managing teams of teams, often during a strategic shift.
Same topic (leadership). Very different terrain, with a very different map.
This map includes:
- Tools: org design, cross-functional leadership, leading through leaders
- Inner work: strategic discernment, energy management, legacy thinking
- Waypoints: “I reshaped the culture,” “My team drives outcomes without me in the room”
Same theme. Very different map.
And if you zoom in further, focusing your exploration on particular industries, organization sizes, or business models?
The maps can get even more detailed and nuanced, meaning that you’re able to be even more confident about the tools to use, the navigational signals, and the boundaries to the terrain you cover. Think about the level of detail you can get to by deep diving on one trail versus guiding using only a high-level overview of the Pacific Northwest.
A clear map signals to your best fit clients that you see them and what they are traveling through with specificity. It's why focusing on a specific terrain, with a distinct pattern, often leads to more effective sales than saying "I can solve anything with generalized knowledge."
A confident guide, not a “proven formula”
Many experts resist defining a methodology because they don’t want to feel boxed in.
But clients aren’t asking for a box, or even a step-by-step process (even if that’s what we’re told they want!).
They’re asking for a map — and a guide — they can trust.
They want to know:
- Have you guided people like me before?
- Do you know what I’m walking into?
- Can you see what’s coming — even if I can’t?
Having a methodology builds trust.
Not because it predicts everything or promises a single path.
But because it proves you’ve walked this terrain before.
That you can guide your clients with clear eyes and sure footing.
That you’ve learned the landscape, know the landmarks, and can lead them through the terrain with clarity and care.