Relationship Map

Create a map that explores how a system’s centers interrelate to create behaviors.

with our Inventory of Centers, we have a pile of parts, but we have to know how the parts work together before we can understand the system.

Understanding the centers of a system only gets you so far, and it doesn’t tell you anything about why the system behaves as it does.

  • A pile of liver cells can’t tell us how a liver works. Systems consist of centers in specific relationships with other centers, and we need to understand those relationships before we can understand the system.

  • Relationships can be geometrical, in that they define how centers are physically arranged around each other, how close or far they are and so on. To use a simple system like a chair as an example, it matters how the seat and back are arranged relative to each other. If they’re not in the right place, then you probably don’t have a chair.

  • Relationships can also be about interaction. In that same chair, the legs need to be connected to the seat of the chair in such a way that the geometric relationship will stay in place when someone sits on the chair, scoots it across the floor and so on. The relationship that we call a “joint” allows the legs to push against the seat which pushes back in a dynamic loop that allows the chair to remain stable as it’s moved around the floor.

  • A relationship map is a kind of Flowchart that visually shows the connections, or relationships between centers. It’s mostly used to indicate how centers interact, but it can be combined with a Map showing how centers are physically related to each other to show geometric relationships as well.

Therefore:

Create a relationship map that shows, at least in part, how the centers of the system are interconnected and affect each other to create the behaviors the system exhibits.

A relationship map tells us how centers are connected to other centers, but we need to recognize that it’s an over-simplification of any system that involves people; to get a more nuanced understanding of human systems, we need to incorporate Warm Data

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