Problems are the core of a business. The problem a company attempts to solve and the reason for why they want to solve it is the main selling point for any product or service a business provides to a customer. Problems within the process of creating and selling the product/service can also lead to the demise of a company. Finding a solution to these problems is not as simple as it could seem. You might find that you spend countless hours trying to solve one of the many problems that your company faces. While I do not have a secret formula to solve every problem you may face in your business, I do have some techniques I can share with you in order to make your life easier. Today specifically, I am going to teach you about the Fishbone Diagram.
The Fishbone Diagram, also known as the Ishikawa Diagram, is a model created by a Japanese professor known as Kaoru Ishikawa in order to help everyone solve problems in their business. Here is an example of the diagram:
Source: Fishbone Diagram (wallstreetmojo.com)
In this diagram, you would start off by creating a box and putting whatever problem you are trying to solve in the box.In the example, the problem is that the company is creating bad burgers, so “Bad Burgers” is put inside the box.
Next, you draw a line to the left of the box that describes the main problem. On this line, you will create different branches representing the different elements that are causing the problem to happen. So, in the example above, there are different branches that have categories like the materials(ingredients) of the burgers, which could cause the burgers to be terrible.
Lastly, make separate branches on the branches that describe the sub-problems. On these branches, write down the root of the sub-problem described on the bigger branch. In the sample above, we see that one of the branches has “environment” written on it. Then, in the tiny branches next to it, the weather that causes the burgers to go bad is written down. These are all the steps to creating a fishbone diagram.
Now that you are done with the diagram, you can go backwards, and start solving the root problems. Once you fix all of the root problems, the sub-category problems will automatically be solved, which also solves the main problem. Creating this diagram can let you find out about and then solve all of the root problems.
The fishbone diagram is just one of the many ways that people can solve problems for their company. There are still many different diagrams and methods that can also be used that I plan to share in the future.