Every business faces challenges in different ways and at different times in its operational life. The key to addressing these challenges is to get to the bottom of the problem and identify the causal factors. This, among other conditions, is responsible for developing the Fishbone diagram and its adoption by various organizations. This article seeks to explain how the Fishbone diagram works.
What is it?
Also referred to as the Root Cause Analysis or the Ishikawa Diagram (after its originator, Kaori Ishikawa), the fishbone diagram is essentially a diagnostic tool. It is originally a management framework that provides a holistic approach to problem-solving by investigating the root cause of a problem. It works by breaking down the problem into several categories of main cause issues and even further into the related factors responsible for each. By isolating the cause factors, you can address every major pain point leading up to the chief problem.
The fishbone diagram is represented as a fishbone with a spine arrangement, several sub-branches, a head, and a tail. The spine or ribs represents the major categories of the problem's cause factors (primary cause). It is often drawn as a horizontal line with an arrow at its right end. The arrow marks the main problem whose root cause is being investigated. You can now attach several branches to each spine, with each branch representing a reason, secondary cause, or factor motivating each challenge.
The spine of a fishbone diagram is often designed to consider the six M's of production as the chief cause-factor category of a typical business problem. These six M's include:
Methods: How the work is executed.
Machines: Equipment used in executing it.
Man: The person involved in executing it.
Measurements: Data collected while at it.
Mother Nature: Environmental factors that impact and influence the work.
Material: Physical resources engaged in executing it.
When do we use it?
Product designers mostly use the Fishbone diagram to diagnose the factors responsible for problems organizations face. It is also referred to when you need to do any of the following:
Provide improvement to the current system. It also helps to forecast what effects will apply to the existing problem when you change the current system.
Present a simple pictorial representation of the relationship between the various causal factors.
Identify other remotely responsible factors (or secondary factors) that contribute to the stated problems.
Provide quality control measures to a process or system to avoid any further problems in the future.
Provide insight into what could present as the most logical solutions or ameliorative measures to address a problem.
What business questions is it helping us to answer?
The fishbone diagram mostly helps to provide the backdrop for a broad-based inquest into what constitutes the root cause of a problem. However, it also seeks to provide answers to questions such as the following.
What problems are the business/company facing, and which of them is the most significant?
Why is this happening? It can remotely link an existential threat or problem to various causal factors.
How are the cause factors further linked together? Your brainstorming sessions will help you provide the basis of the relationship between the various possible causal factors.
What degree of impact do the cause factors have on the problem? This could be depicted by how far branched the factors are from the spine.
How do we use it?
Step 1: Organize the team and define the problem
To use the fishbone diagram, you'll need to assemble a team to brainstorm the various factors responsible for an identified problem. You'll have defined this problem in a "problem Statement" before moving on to take contributions on what the particular challenges are. The problem is represented by the head in the fishbone diagram.
Step 2: Define Categories
This next step demands that you identify the various possible categories of the defined problem the organization faces. The stated categories will feature as ribs on the fishbone diagram. You could define each category under any of the six M's defined previously. For example, the categories may be named as inefficient work processes, Insufficient workforce, or a raw material deficit.
Step 3: Identify actual causes
This step leads us to brainstorming sessions where crucial questions are raised and answered. The contributors suggest various factors responsible for the problem categories previously highlighted. Motivating factors such as a poor organizational structure, unfavorable work conditions, and nationwide raw material unavailability could be listed as the actual reasons behind each problem category, as previously highlighted. These actual causes are added to the fishbone diagram as lateral branches attached to the spine.
Step 4: Proffer Solutions
Now that you've identified all the categories of problems and the factors responsible for them, you can brainstorm the solutions. Every solution preferred can be thoroughly analyzed for its feasibility before being implemented.
Practical example
A construction company looks to use the fishbone diagram to find the root cause of its problem of consistently failing concrete tests. After long periods of brainstorming with team members, it arrives at the following conclusions.
It highlights the problem categories under manpower, machine, and materials.
It further populates each category with actual causes, such as dysfunctional concreting equipment, a dearth of skilled mixer operators, and an inappropriate mix ratio.
It goes on to proffer solutions, including an overhaul of its machine assembly, retraining of its workforce, and a more rigorous supervision and quality control provision.
Advantages
The Fishbone diagram helps to provide a visual representation of a problematic situation. It provides a comprehensive survey of a problem and its chief causative factors.
It creates room for an in-depth investigation into the cause of a problem. It can accommodate as many factors as possible and establishes their links to the main problem.
It also allows for more creative thinking and introduces analytical approaches to the problem-solving process.
It establishes the cause-and-effect relationship that exists between problems and the processes that foster them.
Its use of brainstorming opens up an outlet for collecting helpful inputs from various sources. This can help speed up the problem-finding and solving process.
Disadvantages
The brainstorming process may throw up as many unnecessary ideas as it does good ones. This can lead to significant time wastage.
It may be more difficult to draw a fishbone diagram that depicts multiple causative factors as with a complicated problem.
A Fishbone diagram will only diagnose the root cause of a problem, leaving you with no guidance or recommendations on how to find the most effective solution.
Fishbone diagrams do not necessarily consider failures in human behavior or certain risk control measures in response to unfavorable events.
If you are interested in strategy, please check this page.
Comments