WISHBONE ANALYSIS

CREATING A FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Cause Enumeration
1) Identify a quality problem
2) Generate causes
3) Unstructured brainstorming
4) Structured brainstorming (Round Robin; 6-3-5; etc.)
5) Construct the fishbone Diagram
6) Use check sheets and Pareto charts to identify root causes (e.g. material, machine,
measurement, methods, men) and secondary causes
Figure 1 Fishbone Analysis Example

OBSERVATIONS ON WISHBONE ANALYSIS
· The diagram, like other problem solving techniques, is an inquisitive tool to help users
organize their thoughts and structure the quality improvement process. It does not provide
solutions to quality problems.
· The final diagram does not rank causes according to their importance. It does not identify
leverage points, the manipulation of which will significantly improve the quality of the
process at hand.
· The diagram is an accessible and attractive tool, easy to learn and apply. However, it is a
mistake to approach it without mastering at least some organizational learning skills, such as
working together with others, seeking the truth, being open to different ideas, see others who
might oppose you as colleagues with different ideas. Without such skills, internal politics can
dominate the process (e.g., the most powerful opinion dominates, team members bring to the
diagram construction process a political agenda).