1. A method, comprising: performing operations as follows on a processor: defining a bearing map having an axis corresponding to a first metric, the first metric being based on system management performance for a first defined time interval; defining an object sketch map corresponding to a second metric, the second metric being based on system management performance for a second defined time interval; and combining the bearing map and the object sketch map so as to generate a cognitive map, the cognitive map comprising a data object having a position on the axis based on a first value for the first metric and an appearance based on a second value for the second metric; wherein the axis is a first axis and wherein defining the bearing map comprises: defining the bearing map having the first axis corresponding to the first metric and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis corresponding to a third metric, the first metric and the third metric being based on system management performance over the first defined time interval and the first axis and the second axis defining a two dimensional grid; and wherein the cognitive map comprises the data object having a position on the two dimensional grid based on the first value for the first metric and a third value for the third metric and an appearance based on the second value for the second metric; and wherein the first, second, and third metrics correspond to respective data object operations in the system.