Fishbone diagram maker

The problem goes at the head, the categories branch off a spine, and the causes hang off the categories. The structure is the whole value: it forces people to look in the corners they were ignoring.

Building the fishbone

1. Write the problem at the head of the fish, as an effect rather than a cause.
2. Pick your categories. People, Process, Equipment and Materials suit most service work.
3. Fill each category with causes, however unlikely they sound at this stage.
4. For each cause worth pursuing, ask why it happens and add the answer as a smaller branch.
5. Mark the two or three causes you can actually test.
6. Export a PNG for the write-up, and keep the file so you can add to it later.

Choosing your categories

Manufacturing: the 6 Ms

Machine, Method, Material, Manpower, Measurement, Mother Nature.

Service: the 4 Ss

Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills.

Marketing: the 8 Ps

Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical evidence, Productivity.

Or make your own

The standard sets are prompts, not rules. Categories that match how your work actually divides up will surface more.

A worked example: late deliveries

Write the problem at the head: Deliveries arrive late. Draw the main bones for the causes worth checking, say people, process, equipment, materials, environment and measurement. Under process, the team adds Orders batched once a day and Routes planned by hand; under equipment, One van in for repair every week.

The diagram does not decide which cause matters; it makes sure the discussion covers all of them before anyone settles on the first one mentioned. The next step is to pick the two or three likeliest bones and check them against the actual delivery records.

When a fishbone diagram is the right tool

• Root cause analysis after something goes wrong
• Quality work, incident reviews and post-mortems
• Getting a group to consider causes outside their own department
• Structuring a problem before you decide what to measure

Fishbone diagram questions