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It provides a practical four-step method (brainstorm elements, group them, draw influences with labelled arrows, then review) plus rules for naming, arrow direction, and avoiding ambiguity, including caution against overcomplication while allowing material-flow influences when useful.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/technology/","Technology",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/influence-diagram-id-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-do-how-to-do-it/665375/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/influence-diagram-id-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-do-how-to-do-it/665375.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"dawugda","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is an Influence Diagram (ID), and what relationships does it capture?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"An Influence Diagram (ID) is used to identify and capture the important relationships or influences between elements of a system. It shows how groups and elements interact through underlying influences.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"Why construct an Influence Diagram?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"System behaviour is driven by its underlying structure and relationships between elements. Building an Influence Diagram helps identify, document, and explore those relationships to understand or modify behaviour.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What are the four steps to construct an Influence Diagram?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Step 1 brainstorm all potential elements. Step 2 identify natural groups of elements. Step 3 construct the Influence Diagram by documenting influences between groups and elements. Step 4 review the completed diagram to explore observed or potential system behaviour.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},665375,1793301840,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":101,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":115,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":79,"read_time":143},3985747870947,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","The Systems Thinking Tool Box  \nDr Stuart Burge  \n“.. bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head. It is, as far as he knows the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.”  \nWinnie the Pooh-A. A. Milne  \nInfluence Diagram (ID)  \nWhat is it and what does it do?  \nAn Influence Diagram (ID) is a tool for identifying and capturing the important relationships or influences that exist between the elements of a system. Figure 1 shows an example Influence Diagram constructed to understand the relationships and interaction between groups of people and individuals in a complex supply chain situation.  \nFigure 1 : An Influence Diagram for a supply chain situation  \nThe content of Figure 1 will be described in more detail later. Its purpose here is to show the overall format and elements of an Influence Diagram. It is very similar in construction to a Systems Map [1] with groups of system elements. It differs in that the diagram also shows the important relationships and interactions between the groups and elements.  \nWhy do it?  \nThe behaviour of a system is driven by its underlying structure and the relationship between the elements. By constructing an Influence Diagram, those relationships can be identified and documented such that they can be explored with a view to understanding or modifying a system’s behaviour.  \nWhere and when to use it?  \nAn Influence Diagram can be constructed as part of the effort to understand a system. It is particularly useful for Human Activity Systems where different groups of people or individuals interact in a formal and semi-formal manner. Whereas, hardware (product) intensive systems and to a large extent software intensive systems have concrete formal interconnections, Human Activity Systems will also contain less tangible, but equally important interconnections. Watch any family having a restaurant meal and you will see formal interactions via the use of a menu to select and order food items. You may also experience parent-child interactions regarding manners and behaviour at the table which semi-formal but none-the-less important.  \nWho does it?  \nAn individual or team can undertake the construction of an Influence Diagram. In general, the outcome is more complete if a team performs the map construction. Moreover, when attempting to capture Human Activity Systems the various team members will bring their own unique and important viewpoint. It is important to emphasise that the quality of the outcome is dependent upon the experience of team or individual.  \nHow to do it?  \nThe process for constructing an Influence Diagram comprises four steps:  \nStep 1: Brainstorm all potential elements of the system of interest. An element can be a person and groups of people, a process, equipment or hardware, building and places. Basically anything.  \nStep 2: Identify natural groups of elements that have similar/common views/features/aspects. These groups should be given a collective name. The combination of steps 1 and 2 is a Systems Map.  \nStep 3: Using the groups construct the Influence Diagram by identifying and documenting the influences between the various groups. The approach here is to consider each system element on the map and determine the presence and nature of any relationship with any other group. The relationships can be physical entities, information and controls flows or less tangible influences.  \nFinally, record any relationships on the map to create the influence diagram:  \n• Show only definite influences or relationships, but do not ignore influences , because they are not tangible.  \n• Try to avoid influence lines crossing.  \n• Make sure that the diagram is easy to follow.  \n• Show the direction of the influence.  \n• Name the influence.  \nStep 4: Review the completed Influence Diagram to explore and understand observed system behaviour or potential behaviour. At this point it may be necessar","cbCaicklvxyvpgrZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicklvxyvpgrZ","pdf",590729,"English","# Influence Diagram (ID)\n## What it is and what it does\n## Why use it\n## Where and when to use it\n## Who does it\n## How to do it\n## Rules for constructing an Influence Diagram\n# Illustrative Examples\n## Stakeholder Influence Map","[{\"question\":\"What is an Influence Diagram (ID), and what relationships does it capture?\",\"answer\":\"An Influence Diagram (ID) is used to identify and capture the important relationships or influences between elements of a system. It shows how groups and elements interact through underlying influences.\"},{\"question\":\"Why construct an Influence Diagram?\",\"answer\":\"System behaviour is driven by its underlying structure and relationships between elements. Building an Influence Diagram helps identify, document, and explore those relationships to understand or modify behaviour.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the four steps to construct an Influence Diagram?\",\"answer\":\"Step 1 brainstorm all potential elements. Step 2 identify natural groups of elements. Step 3 construct the Influence Diagram by documenting influences between groups and elements. Step 4 review the completed diagram to explore observed or potential system behaviour.\"}]","Influence Diagram (ID) - What is it and what does it do? - How to do it | PDF",23]