The Innovator's Toolkit: 50+ Techniques for Predictable and Sustainable Organic Growth, 2nd Edition

Technique 57

Cause & Effect Matrix

Identify the key input-output relationships in need of attention.

 

A cause & effect (C&E) matrix helps you determine which critical process inputs have the most impact on process outputs. For example, you might have a new product that stores an exabyte of data on a very small device. However, the process used to create the device might have an extremely poor yield. You could use a C&E matrix to identify which factors you should focus on to improve the yield.

In essence, a C&E matrix allows you to qualitatively determine the importance of cause-and-effect relationships between process inputs and outputs. This can be especially beneficial when you don't have enough quantitative data to define cause and effect, as may be the case with a new product, service, or process. The only caveat is that participants must be familiar with the process, its inputs, and its customer-driven outputs.

You can use a cause & effect matrix at any stage of your innovation process when you need to understand the relationship between inputs and outputs, or figure out which factor has critical influence.

Steps

Scenario: In the DVD-by-mail example from the Cause & Effect Diagram (Technique 56), we looked for the root causes (inputs) contributing to customer dissatisfaction. We can also use a cause & effect matrix to discover which process inputs affect customer satisfaction the most and, therefore, need attention and improvement.

1. Identify and Rank Process Outputs ...