Safetypee - many thanks for your thoughts and the links.
Yes - absolutely agree that any mapping of course runs the risk that it then becomes some kind of static reference that doesn't remain open to revisions and reflection.
The other curse is the homogeneity of the display - i.e. no sense of relative importance of various factors through time.
Your 2nd link of course bears out the question as well of whether you try and depict the state of play principally through a display (which will tend to spawn versions of itself and may/not reach where it needs to) or painting the picture though face-to-face people interaction. No doubt, best solution is some interplay of the two, as should feed off each other and give two bites at the same cherry.
Thrust behind my enquiry is that in technically complex environments, we know there is this lurking force-field of influences going on underneath, but how clear is it to the participants, especially as regards the human factors. How can we best depict it to help the protagonists? I'm thinking almost a mental HUD that's available on tap to them?