The Smart Solution Book

Tool 20

Ishikawa fishbone diagrams

What the tool is

The fishbone diagram was developed in the early 1940s by Dr Kaoru Ishikawa of the University of Tokyo. Though it was designed initially as a product improvement tool, it now has much wider application as a general problem-solving tool, particularly for understanding the many causes that may contribute to a particular result.

Ishikawa believed that quality improvement should be a continual process and that customer service was as important as high-quality products. He worked with Dr W. Edwards Deming, whose work on quality control is represented in this book by his plan, do, study, act tool (see Tool 21).

Using the fishbone diagram allows you to see every possible cause contributing to a particular ...