Challenges in using the Action Framework

What follows are some of the challenges in using the Relationship Framework drawn from the experience of Do No Harm users all over the world. This list is not intended to discourage a particular use of this Framework! Indeed, many people do not find the challenges significant or limiting.

However, some people have had challenges with using the Framework and it has proven useful to make the experience of that explicit. This helps others having similar experiences to not get frustrated, and be left feeling as though they do not understand something.

Most of the experience of the challenges exaggerates the structure of the Framework over the use of the concepts. For use in analysis, the concepts are key, not the way they have been fitted together.

Challenges in using the Action Framework

The structure of the Action Framework appears to emphasize action over understanding. The arrows feel to some people as though they emphasize speed, rather than thought. This is a danger only if people do not stop to use the techniques.

The visual de-emphasis of certain elements, such as the ABCs, can lead to misunderstandings about what is crucial. The whole diagram of the Action Framework is important, including the ABCs.

When the Action Framework was designed, people saw the ABCs interacting with all four elements of the loop. Indeed, the arrows themselves can be thought of as Resources and Messages propelling impact around the circle. However, when we tried to operationalize a version of the Framework with this understanding, it was too confusing. We asked practitioners where in the process they actually use the ABCs. The result is the current diagram.

The Action Framework appears to leave out Critical Detail Mapping altogether. The Framework has an implicit assumption that CDM takes place in the Options & Opportunities phase.

Many people worry that the Action Framework does not allow the same depth of understanding as quickly as the Relationship Framework . This is true, but we have also noted that the depth of understanding among users increases over time the more users make use of either Framework (or both!). Because people using the Action Framework tend to use it much more frequently than users of the Relationship Framework, they arrive at a similar depth of understanding quite quickly, and frequently surpass it.

It is the case that the first time through the Relationship Framework offers more depth of understanding of than the first couple of times through the Action Framework. It is also the case that a really thorough use of the Relationship Framework can achieve a huge depth of understanding that would be difficult to arrive at very quickly for those solely using the Action Framework.

This is why using both Frameworks is so powerful. The Relationship Framework can provide initial depth, while the Action Framework can provide constant monitoring and updating. A subsequent return to the Relationship Framework informed by the updates will reveal additional depth. Using both together also avoids the fact that the Action Framework is too unstructured for certain uses. Many people do not think in circles!

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