[[Notes]] - Topics: [[Productivity]] - People: David M. William - Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLvizyDFLQ4 --- ## Summary - Start with the EFFECT. This frames the entire diagram; the destination where you will work backwards from. - List out CATEGORIZE of problems. The process of categorizing potential causes helps BREAKDOWN COMPLEX PROBLEMS and focuses in on various perspectives. - List out effects. It's more important to capture organized ideas out of order, than it is to write things down in visual order. - Continue until you have a useful level of DETAIL; when the cause is specific enough TEST a change and MEASURE it's effects. - The [[5 whys]] problem solving technique in discovering the root causes of the effects. ## Notes ### The diagram - The cause-and-effect diagram is also known as the Ishikawa or "fishbone" diagram. ### Start - Start with the EFFECT. Write it on the right side of the page. - Starting with the effect helps frame the entire diagram. That is the destination where you will work backwards from. - From the effect, draw a horizontal line across the page - all the way to the beginning. ### Problems - Decide on a categories of PROBLEMS. - Classic categories include: People, methods, materials, equipment, and environment. - From the central horizontal line, stemming from the EFFECT, draw a line that connects to every single category. - The process of categorizing potential causes helps BREAKDOWN COMPLEX PROBLEMS and focuses in on various perspectives. ### Causes - From each category, start listing a list of CAUSES; starting from the top-left first category. - This setup helps focus on a segment of problem. It prevents conflation, leading to general messiness and overwhelm, from the intermixing of multiple problem categories. - Once started, you can bounce around various categories once ideas come to mind. - It's more important to capture organized ideas out of order, than it is to write things down in visual order. - Continue listing until you've reached a USEFUL LEVEL OF DETAILS. - A useful level of detail is achieved when the cause is specific enough to be able to test a change and to measure it's effects. - Giving deeper into each effects is similar to the exercise of [[5 whys]].