We rely on complexity to create and maintain the world of our being. The world and societies complexify our world by creating multiple interplays among the actors, layers and iterations.
When problems arise (negative surprises) we need the operating diagrams to make enough sense of the complexity so that we can navigate or even manage the complexity that we are part of--by design or by accident.
Often there are no operating diagrams or instructions so we need to create them. We call this creative and exploratory process problem solving. Problem solving can be trial and error, and it can be pattern recognizing and model building, and model using. Models can be carried in the mind of individuals, in the culture of groups including civilizations, or in/on artifacts such as paper and computers. There are highly specified models and maps and and there are purposefully general models often called patterns.
Famously and usefully "maps are not the territory", otherwise they would not fit into our pockets.
Maps and models are navigational aids and to be useful they must contain just the right amount and type of information for the vehicle and situation being navigated.
There is a special kind of model and map, a recipe, a stepwise, more-or-less general, more-or-less specific, set of sequential instructions that guide creative-productive processes. Engineering uses Model-based System Engineering (MBSE) and Pattern-based Systems Engineering. (PBSE).