Fishbone diagrams are one of the 7 basic QC tools. Originally conceived and popularized by Japanese organizational theorist Kaoru Ishikawa. It is a cause analysis tool which is used to identify all possible causes leading to an event or a problem. It is also useful for sorting all ideas into categories. Alternate Names to this approach are known as Ishikawa diagram and cause-and-effect diagrams.
 
Fish-bone diagrams are named due to their resemblance to the skeletal structure of a fish. There are typically four types of fish-bone diagrams:
 
Simple Fishbone Diagram
 
It is the most basic type of fish-bone diagram. It does not contain any categories so it can be used to suit particular needs and businesses.
 
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