Dividers and Connectors Analysis (DCA) gives us a model of the context against which to test our understanding. Today’s model is good enough inasmuch as it helps us to rapidly see change. Today’s model is good enough inasmuch as we review it and revise it constantly based on the changes we observe.
 
DCA reduces the amount of information about the context to a manageable level, while maintaining a focus on the most important factors.

With a team:

Step I: Brainstorm

Brainstorm using the Key Questions (see below) or other appropriate questions.

• Plenary. Everybody shares ideas and the ideas are collected on a flip chart

• Buzz Groups. In groups of two or three, write down ideas. Come together in plenary and capture ideas on flip chart for discussion

• Individual

1. Write down the three (or five) most important Dividers (or Connectors)
2. Create a headline (or title) for each
3. Write one sentence why it is important
4. Come up with an indicator for telling if the Divider (or Connector) is getting Better or Worse

Note: Use some categories to help the brainstorming process.^[1][2] Ask yourself if you have considered each category and the potential Dividers and Connectors in each of them. Ask the team if there are other categories that should be used to capture experience and jog memories.
 
The Do No Harm SAVES is the most common set of categories used by Do No Harm practitioners.

Step II: Discuss

Are these the right Dividers (and Connectors)? How do you know these are Dividers? Be specific. How would you know if these changed? How would you know if they got Better or Worse? Figuring out how you know when change takes place is a way to develop indicators.

Step III: Prioritize

Which are the most important or dangerous Dividers? Which are the most important or strongest, or best potential Connectors?

Allow local staff to take the lead here.

Step IV: Options and Opportunities

How can these Dividers (or Connectors) be affected? What can your team or organization do to have a positive impact?

What are you currently doing that is having a negative impact? Why is that negative impact happening? What can you change to affect the impact?

Can your Options and Opportunities be linked to the indicators you developed in Step II? How will you monitor changes?

If your changes do not have the effect you anticipate, do you have a back-up Option? Do you have a process for learning why a change has not had the impact you expect?

Teams always have differences in opinion

When the analysis of a context is done, we always find that there are different opinions among a team. While this can lead to conflict in the group, this difference is inevitable. People have been exposed to different pieces of information and at different times. People have different assumptions about the information they have gathered. Often there are pieces of information that are missing. Teams just haven’t had the time to collect them!

These different opinions should not be a stumbling block, but rather seen as an opportunity to gather new pieces of information from the other participants. This process should also highlight where there is inadequate information and offer some ideas about what needs to be learned.

Previous Page Weak Connectors are not Dividers
Next Page Key Questions to unlock Dividers and Connectors

Related Topics
Checklist for Dividers/Connectors Analysis
Do No Harm SAVES: Categories for Disaggregating a Context
Using Dividers and Connectors
Understanding Dividers and Connectors
Dividers and Connectors Analysis

[1]“The Do No Harm SAVES is the most common set of categories used by Do No Harm practitioners.”
 
The SAVES categories were developed by Do No Harm practitioners.

[2]“Use some categories to help the brainstorming process.”
 
Another set of categories is PESTLE:
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Legal
Environmental
 
I am not sure where PESTLE was developed. It appears most often in my experience in US government department analyses (though by no means in all). Some DNH users appreciate it for providing types of Systems and Institutions.
 
I use PESTLE as a reminder to make sure I do not leave anything out.
 
Another structure used by some practitioners is Thomas Barnett’s Flows: People, Money, Energy, Security, and Food (from The Pentagon’s New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century).