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Using Logic Trees to Construct Your Methodology 65

Butter one side of
Butter one side of
Join the buttered
each slice of Join the buttered
each slice of
sides.
bread. sides.
bread.
T
1
be
he
RE
GU
5.

g
o
ic tr
a lo
f
g
innin
g
e
FI
FIGURE 5.1 The beginning of a logic treee
Make a butter
Make a butter
sandwich.
sandwich.
(How?)
(How?)
Butter one side of Join the buttered
Butter one side of
each slice of Join the buttered
each slice of
sides.
bread. sides.
bread.
FIGURE 5.2 A “grouping” in a logic treee
FI GU RE 5. 2 A “ g r oupin g ” in a l o g ic tr e
the means, necessary to produce that result. If you told me, in the methodology
of your proposal, that one of your tasks would be to make a butter sandwich, I
might ask, “How?” You would answer by naming the two steps on the lower row.
Note two things. First, the boxes are related through a logic that goes both
bottom-up and top-down; second, whether you read bottom-up or top-down,
the boxes always exist in a question-answer relationship. From the bottom, the
lower boxes are the actions necessary to achieve the result implied by the top box
to which they are joined. So, if you were building your logic tree from the bot-
tom up, you would ask yourself, “What result would be produced from these two
actions?” That answer would generate the top-level box, a butter sandwich. From
the top down, the higher-level box also generates a question: “How would you
achieve the result implied by this action?” That answer would give you the two
boxes (the actions) at the lower level.
As Figure 5.3 illustrates, a well-constructed logic tree has four characteristics.
The fourth characteristic, MECE, in Figure 5.3 means this:
◉ A grouping refers to any number of actions on one level that achieve the result
implied by the action above.
◉ The actions in that grouping appear nowhere else in the logic tree (i.e., they are
Mutually Exclusive).
◉ No other actions within the grouping are required to achieve the result implied
by the action above (i.e., they are Collectively Exhaustive).