The Interrelationship Digraph: Looking for Drivers and Outcomes

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By GOAL/QPC

Have you ever been involved in a group effort that stalled in its process improvement efforts because you couldn’t agree on what the critical issues were that you should be tackling in the first place? The interrelationship digraph could be just the tool you need to move beyond that stage.

The article is based on the tool as described in The Memory Jogger II, written by Michael Brassard and Diane Ritter and published by GOAL/QPC.

The interrelationship digraph allows a team to systematically identify, analyze and classify the cause and effect relationships that exist among all critical issues so that key drivers or outcomes can become the heart of an effective solution.

The ID offers many benefits. It encourages team members to think in multiple directions rather than linearly; explores the cause and effect relationships among all the issues, including the most controversial; allows the key issues to emerge naturally rather than allowing the issues to be forced by a dominant or powerful team member; systematically surfaces the basic assumptions and reasons for disagreements among team members; and allows a team to identify root causes even when credible data doesn’t exist.

Here’s a step-by-step explanation on how to use it.

1. Agree on the issue/problem statement.

Example: What are the issues related to reducing litter?

If using an original statement, (it didn’t come from a previous tool or discussion), create a complete sentence that is clearly understood and agreed on by team members. If using input from other tools, such as an affinity diagram, make sure that the goal under discussion is still the same and clearly understood.

2. Assemble the right team.

The ID requires more intimate knowledge of the subject under discussion than is needed for the Affinity. This is important if the final cause and effect patterns are to be credible. The ideal team size is generally four to six people. However, this number can be increased as long as the issues are still visible and the meeting is well facilitated to encourage participation and maintain focus.

3. Lay out all of the ideas/issue cards that have either been brought from other tools or brainstormed.

Figure 1: Bring forth all the ideas and issues.

Arrange five to 25 cards or notes in a large circular pattern, leaving as much space as possible for drawing arrows. Use large, bold printing, including a large number or letter on each idea for quick reference later in the process.

4. Look for cause/influence relationships between all of the ideas and draw relationship arrows.

Choose any of the ideas as a starting point. If all of the ideas are numbered or lettered, work through them in sequence. An outgoing arrow from an idea indicates that it is the stronger cause or influence.

Ask of each combination:

1. Is there a cause/influence relationship?
2. If yes, which direction of cause/influence is stronger?

Figure 2: Choose any idea as a starting point and work through them in sequence.

Tip: Draw only one-way relationship arrows in the direction of the stronger cause or influence. Make a decision on the stronger direction. Do not draw two-headed arrows.

5. Review and revise the first round ID.

Get additional input from people who are not on the team to confirm or modify the team’s work. Either bring the paper version to others or reproduce it using available software. Use a different size print or a color marker to make additions or deletions.

6. Tally the number of outgoing and incoming arrows and select key items for further planning.

Record and clearly mark next to each issue the number of arrows going in and out of it. Find the items with the highest number of outgoing arrows and the items with the highest number of incoming arrows.

Outgoing Arrows

A high number of outgoing arrows indicates an item that is a root cause or driver. This is generally the issue that teams tackle first.

Incoming Arrows

A high number of incoming arrows indicates an item that is a key outcome. This can become a focus for planning either as a meaningful measure of overall success or as a redefinition of the original issue under discussion.

Tip: Use common sense when you select the most critical issues to focus on. Issues with very close tallies must be reviewed carefully; but in the end it’s a judgment call, not science.

7. Draw the final ID.

Identify visually both the key drivers (the greatest number of outgoing arrows) and the key outcomes (the greatest number of incoming arrows). Typical methods are double boxes or bold boxes.

Figure 3: Draw the final interrelationship digraph.

Variations

When it’s necessary to create a more orderly display of all of the relationships, a matrix format is very effective. The vertical (up) arrow is a driving cause and the horizontal (side) arrow is an effect. The example below has added symbols indicating the strength of the relationships. The "total" column is the sum of all of the "relationship strengths" in each row. This shows that you are working on those items that have the strongest effect on the greatest number of issues.

Figure 4: The ID matrix format.

The following is a sample showing the issues surrounding implementation of a business plan.

Figure 5: An example: Issues surrounding implementation of a business plan.

Here's another example, with a close-up following.

Figure 6: A vision of Andover in the 21st century.

Regarding the close-up a couple of items to note:

Item 1: This is the driver. If the focus on the citizen as a customer becomes the core of the town’s vision, then everything else will be advanced.

Item 2: This is the primary outcome. It puts the preservation of nature in the town as a key indicator of the vision working.

Figure 8: A close-up from the previous example.

Useful Links

GOAL/QPC
http://www.goalqpc.com/

Buy the The Memory Jogger II:
http://www.bpmenterprise.com/7ht

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