A diagram used for failure/root cause analysis that categorizes the potential causes of the issue at hand, takes shape of a fish skeleton ![[fishbone_diagram.png]] - Head represents the main problem - Big ribs represent categories - Spines are potential causes ## Steps 1. State the problem 2. Define the categories 3. Brainstorm potential causes - 5 Whys: ask "Why?" 5 times - Initial cause + possible factors leading to this initial cause