Learn in the textbookStructured Diagrams for Cause Analysis, Control, and Systematization
DefinitionA fishbone chart (フィッシュボーンチャート) is another name for a cause-and-effect diagram (特性要因図). It arranges a problem result and the causes that produce it in a shape like a fish skeleton.
ExplanationThe result (the characteristic) goes in the fish head at the right end, and large and small bones branch off the spine leading to it, each holding a cause. The large bones carry broad cause categories, and splitting them by angles such as people, equipment, materials and methods makes gaps easier to notice. Causes get more specific toward the small bones, which helps you trace the root cause.
AnalogyIf dinner gets burnt, writing out the reasons under bones for heat, cookware, ingredients and steps keeps you from jumping to one cause on a hunch.
Memory hookThe name simply joins the English words fish and bone.