The theory of Effectuation encourages entrepreneurs facing uncertainty to take action based on the means at their disposal. But it assumes that identifying these resources is straightforward. The effectual tree diagram developed by Dominique Vian, a professor and researcher in management at SKEMA Business School, fills this gap: it uses a structured method to reveal them so that they can be leveraged, turning each challenge into strategic opportunities.
A means is a resource. It can be a strength, an asset, a potential, an ability. Conceptualising a means is the cognitive process by which we become aware that something is going to be useful to us.
The shortcomings of effectuation
The theory of effectuation, developed by Saras Sarasvathy, shows that entrepreneurs facing uncertainty start with their existing resources and then imagine the possibilities of what they can do with them. To identify their means, they answer three questions: Who am I? What do I know? Who do I know?
However, the theory of effectuation has some shortcomings. It does not go into detail about the cognitive mechanisms involved in identifying a means in complex situations. It assumes that these resources are obvious to identify.
Read also: Effectual Goals: The method to set goals without imposing them
However, there are real difficulties in conceptualising resources: decision-makers sometimes struggle to identify them. The process is not as simple as “opening the fridge”, to use Sarasvathy’s cooking metaphor. Becoming aware of one’s resources is a challenge for anyone wishing to take action in complex situations.
This theoretical gap justifies the need to develop cognitive mechanisms and representations that facilitate the process of resource conceptualisation.
The example of a medical centre
To illustrate the cognitive mechanisms involved, consider the situation of a call centre providing medical secretarial services. It faces a number of difficulties: a shortage of doctors, difficulties in arranging appointments, demotivated operators, and an uncertain future for the company.
By reassessing the fundamental usefulness of a medical secretarial service, a first discovery emerges: beyond simply making appointments, the secretarial service also helps to “take care” of both the patient and the doctor. To organise the doctor’s working day in the best possible way is to take care of them. This new awareness leads to the identification of new resources: the time spent on telephone calls between the operators and the doctors, initially seen as a purely administrative task, turns out to be a valuable resource, as does the attention paid by the operators to the doctors.
These two resources make it possible to:
- detect signs of fatigue or stress in the doctors
- give more value to the role of the operators by recognising their “care” function
Note that what initially appeared to be a problem (the time spent on the phone) has now become a strategic resource thanks to this new conceptualisation. Remember also that a lack of operator motivation was one of the initial problems: progress has now been made by transforming the situation.
In the scenario in question, there is a logical chain of possible means and effects that stands out among the means and effects that can be leveraged or activated. The medical secretarial service (possible means) produces care for the doctor (possible effect). What activates the latter is the time spent and the active listening, as these are activatable means to detect fatigue, which has now become an activatable effect.
Here are the steps taken to get there:
Step 1: Explore the possible effects emerging
I look for possible effects in the initial situation (starting point), seen as a possible means. I brainstorm the effects of this means. To do this, I link concepts together using effectual logic. Here, we are limiting ourselves to “taking care of the doctor”, but there are probably others.
Step 2: From effects to means: analysis of activatable resources
I look for activatable means at the possible effect (taking care of the doctor) with a view to activating it. To do this, I define what “taking care of the doctor” means for the medical secretarial service. “Taking care” here means finding out about the doctor’s immediate environment and contributing to his or her well-being. The question then becomes: what means does the secretarial service have at its disposal to do this?
Step 3: Build the means-effects network
In a second effectual brainstorming session, I think about the effects of what I have at my disposal. I check whether it is useful for taking care of the doctor. I discover what else it makes possible. I link these new activatable means to the direct effects produced.
At the end of the process, we obtain an effectual tree that summarises the 3 steps:
The conceptualisation example we just analysed applies to a case where “I don’t know what to do”. Of course, there is also another type of situation, where I know what to do but not how to do it. In this case, there is no need to look for the effects of what I want to do. What I am looking for is how to do it, and Step 1, which was to start from the initial situation without a predefined goal, becomes irrelevant. If I know what to do but not how to do it, the process can begin at Step 2. However, a variation exists depending on whether one is looking for means to “progress towards” the desired effect or to “achieve” it. To progress, all that is needed is a means that contributes to the effect. To actually achieve the desired effect, a means that contributes to it is not enough; it must enable it.
The tree that reveals the forest
The effectual tree gives a visual and detailed form to a cognitive mechanism that we use naturally and unconsciously. In our case, we have limited our analysis to one effect of the medical secretarial service, but there may be others that have not been explored. By systematising the search for logical possible means-effects links, the effectual tree offers several advantages:
- It reveals hidden activatable resources by forcing a systematic exploration of the direct and immediate effects of a given concept
- It facilitates collective intelligence by enabling each individual to visualise and complete the logical links identified by others
- It provides an objective framework for discussion in which each proposal can be validated by the logic of means-effects links
- It allows a clear distinction to be made between possible means-effects and what can be activated, as ultimately it is what can be activated that interests us
This approach fills an important gap in effectuation theory by:
- Giving a visual form to the cognitive mechanisms involved in resource identification
- Going beyond the simple list of “What am I?”, “What do I know?” and “Who do I know?” questions at the starting point
- Proposing a structured method for dealing with complex situations
- Providing a concrete tool for the collective analysis of potential resources
The effectual tree structure thus transforms an intuitive approach into a rigorous, shareable method that significantly enriches the effectuation toolbox.
Many thanks to Quentin Tousart and Frédéric Munier, who helped to improve the clarity of the diagrams.
