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Building a tree

Add a node, connect it, and read what one looks like when selected.

Every node is a small card, and clicking one opens the whole story behind it.

+ Add Node and Add Formula sit in the main toolbar; Generate via AI proposes structure rather than a single node. Auto-layout rearranges the canvas so nodes don't overlap, and the orientation toggle beside it flips the tree between vertical and horizontal — the label on the button names the layout it will switch to, not the one you're currently looking at. Search (⌘K) opens a command palette listing every node by name, with three filters: Type (Any / KPI / Formula), Mapping (Any / Mapped to VW KPI / Unmapped), and Computed (Any / Computed from upstream / Manual / leaf) — the fastest way to jump to one node in a tree of hundreds rather than hunting for it on the canvas.

Clicking a node opens a NODE panel on the right: its Name, a VW KPI ID pairing a numeric id with a KPI name — 1000327 — Product management salaries — a Direction setting, and its current-month Values: Actual, Plan, Forecast. Only Actual and Plan are editable directly in the panel; Forecast is locked, with its own note explaining why — it's computed by Propagate (7.9) from the node's upstream drivers, not something you type in.

A Computed from upstream checkbox also lives in the panel, mirroring the value flowing in from connected drivers or formulas rather than a manually-entered figure. This is the actual mechanism behind two things covered elsewhere in this module: it's what "manual KPIs are never overwritten" (7.9) really means in practice, and it's what the Search palette's Computed filter is filtering on.

VW KPI ID is what maps a node to a real KPI. A node isn't just a label on the canvas — it's linked to an actual ValueWorks KPI, which is almost certainly where its Actual and Plan figures come from. That mapping is also why the Search palette offers a Mapping filter: it's filtering on whether a node has been linked to a KPI at all.

Direction is a direction of valuation, three-way rather than two. The product's own explainer next to the label reads: Positive — bigger is better (revenue, MRR, NPS). Negative — smaller is better (cost, churn, CAC payback). Neutral — neither, or a ratio that's context-dependent. A ratio or margin node is set to Neutral for exactly that reason: it has no favourable side, unlike a straightforward revenue or cost line. Setting the wrong one will make every colour under the Direction lens (7.6) misleading.

The full Driver Tree toolbar: tree tabs with node counts, a Views control, month navigation, an edit summary reading plus 47 nodes plus 41 edges, Actual Plan Forecast and VAR checkboxes, Default Focus and Impact view modes, Variance and Direction toggles, Confidence and Sparklines, Add Node, Add Formula and Generate via AI, and a second row with Propagate, Auto-layout, Inspect, Search, a layout-orientation toggle, Calibrate and Delete Tree.
  1. 1Tree tabs, each with its node count, and the tenant's total tree count at the right
  2. 2Views, and the month navigation with its edit summary
  3. 3Data layers — Actual, Plan, Forecast, VAR
  4. 4View modes — Default, Focus, Impact — here set to Impact
  5. 5Card colouring — Variance and Direction are one toggle, only one active at a time; Confidence and Sparklines are separate overlays
  6. 6Add Node, Add Formula, Generate via AI
  7. 7Propagate, Auto-layout, Inspect, Search, the orientation toggle, Calibrate, Delete Tree

ValueWorks 2026.08

A selected node reading Product management salaries with a FOCUS badge, and its NODE panel open on the right showing Name, VW KPI ID 1000327, Direction with Positive, Negative and Neutral options and Neutral selected, and Values for 2026-06 showing Actual 560,610, Plan 589,207 and Forecast N/A.
  1. 1Name
  2. 2VW KPI ID — the link between this node and a real KPI
  3. 3Direction, with its own (?) — Positive, Negative, Neutral, here set to Neutral
  4. 4Actual and Plan for the current month, editable in place — Forecast reads N/A here and is locked, computed by Propagate
  5. 5Delete Node

ValueWorks 2026.08

Takeaways

  • Search (⌘K) is how you find one node in a tree of hundreds — filter by Type, Mapping, or Computed.

  • Clicking a node opens its panel: Name, VW KPI ID, Direction, and Actual/Plan — editable. Forecast is locked, computed by Propagate.

  • VW KPI ID maps the node to a real KPI — the likely source of its figures.

  • Direction is three-way: Positive (bigger is better), Negative (smaller is better), Neutral (no favourable side) — a ratio node is Neutral because it has no favourable side, not because it's a different kind of setting.

Surfaces covered

  • Add Node
  • Add Formula
  • Generate via AI
  • Auto-layout
  • Horizontal/Vertical
  • Search (⌘K)
  • Map

Also taught in the Academy

Module 7 · Digital Twin: the Driver Tree

Take it as lesson 7.4 in Business Analyst & FP&A