Reverse direction

Ask whether the arrow points the other way: what you called the effect may be driving what you called the cause, or the two events happened in an order that rules your story out. Check which came first, by date.

Ask whether the arrow points the other way: what you called the effect may be driving what you called the cause, or the two events happened in an order that rules your story out. Check which came first, by date.

Example

You blame the search algorithm for the 30 percent sales drop. Reversed: the platform ranks by recent sales, so nine days out of stock cut your sales first, and the ranking fell after. Pull the dates. If the drop started before the algorithm update shipped, your villain is wrong.