Outcome to Mechanism

When a plan says what you hope will improve but not how, connect the proposed action to the result through concrete intermediate steps. Then question the weakest link.

Action → intermediate changes → outcome → weakest arrow.

A desired outcome is not an explanation of how to produce it. Sketch the process through which an action might change something, which then changes something else. Keep the chain short enough to inspect, label uncertain connections, and choose an observation that could show where the explanation breaks.

Try this when…

We want more engagement, but what would make that happen?

How is this activity supposed to produce that result?

We did the thing and nothing changed.

This proposal skips from the input straight to success.

What you can use it for

Improving a service

Connect a proposed change to what a person could understand or do differently.

Learning design

Describe the practice and feedback that an activity is intended to create.

Project planning

Expose the assumptions between completing a task and achieving the desired result.