Tree of InfluenceContributing
How to share what you learn using the Tree of Influence, and what happens to it.
For several years, the Tree of Influence has mostly been used by the people who developed it. The most useful thing you can give it now is your experience: where it worked, where it broke, and what you changed to make it fit.
You do not need to write code or edit this website. Contributions happen in plain language, in the project's public repository on GitHub. You need a free GitHub account.
Ways to contribute
| You have | Share it as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Run a session, or built a tree on your own | An experience report | Experience reports |
| Hit a situation this website does not cover | An experience report | Experience reports |
| An idea for a pattern, a rule, or a clearer explanation | An idea | Ideas |
| A question about how to do something | A question | Q&A |
| Found a typo, a broken link, or 2 pages that disagree | A correction | Corrections |
| A tree, a template for a whiteboard tool, a translation, or a talk | Something to show | Show and tell |
Share an experience report
Experience reports are the most valuable contribution. A few sentences per point are enough:
- Context. The topic, how many people took part, in person or remote, and the tool you used.
- What you did. The steps you ran, how long they took, and anything you skipped or changed.
- What the group learned. The insight the tree produced, or the one it did not.
- What surprised you. Anything that went wrong, felt awkward, or worked better than expected.
- A picture, if you can. A photo or export of your tree, anonymized as described below.
The report form in the repository asks the same questions.
Reports of failure are as useful as reports of success. A session that went wrong shows where the technique's boundaries are, and that is exactly what this website cannot know yet.
Before you share a tree
Trees often hold things people would not say in public: frank feedback, conflicts between teams, the weak spots of a product. Everything in the repository is public.
- Remove the names of companies, products, teams, and people. Replace each with a description that keeps the meaning: "the payments team," not its real name.
- Ask the participants before you share a photo of their board.
- If a node only makes sense with a confidential detail, rewrite it or leave it out, and say that you did.
- When in doubt, describe the tree in words instead of sharing a picture.
This website follows the same rules for its own examples.
What happens next
- Any reply, follow-up question, or decision about your contribution appears where you posted it.
- Confirmed corrections are fixed in a later update of the website.
- One report is a story. When several reports point the same way, the website changes: a new tip, a new trap, a new pattern, or a boundary that moves.
- If your contribution changes the website, your name goes on the list of contributors below. You may also ask to stay anonymous.
Not every idea is adopted. One of the core principles is to keep the vocabulary small, so every addition has to earn its place. When an idea is not taken up, the aim is to explain why.
Ground rules
- Be kind. Critique ideas, not people.
- Assume good intent. Most people here are sharing experience that was hard to earn.
- Stay on topic: the Tree of Influence, how people use it, and this website.
- Protect the people in your sessions. Their trust is what made the tree possible.
Your contribution and the license
Contributions are published under the same license as this website, CC BY 4.0. By posting one, you agree to that. You keep the copyright to what you write, and everyone who reuses it must credit the source.
Share only material you have the right to share, such as your own words, and photos taken with the participants' agreement.
Contributors
These people have shaped this website with what they shared:
- Paulo Queiroga