ABSTRACT
In Module 3, the authors assess methods to explore existing problems and ways to overcome them. Chapter 7 starts with Ishikawa’s fishbone diagram, the Problem Tree and the Tree of Means and Ends – user-friendly techniques inspired by the Quality Movement to analyze the causes and the effects of a problem and convert them into the means and ends of a forward-looking plan. A story of engagement with the Katkari of India and their struggle for land rights illustrates the tools. The authors also discuss and illustrate Timeline, a tool to tell a story of changes or steps taken over time. While apparently simple, methods reviewed in this chapter raise fundamental questions regarding cause-effect and means-ends relationships. They also suggest that causal analysis cannot ignore the role of people using their own ideas and language to imagine other possible worlds and contribute to the advancement of a worthy cause. In this approach, causal reasoning and the struggle for a cause are two sides of the same coin.
