What is the map of Ishikawa?

Ishikawa diagram (also known as fishbone diagram), a diagram that can help us study causality, is a useful tool to solve problems. Because it provides a diagram of the causes of problems or phenomena, which factors have a high/low impact on these problems/phenomena, and how to solve this situation. Ishikawa painted fish bones to help people "see" the causal relationship in a specific relationship. Obviously, it is not easy to separate the solution from the problem. We can understand why we need "Ishikawa map" to solve the problem by looking at the following two situations.

Two hypothetical examples:

Usually, planning a party seems easy. We often hear people say, "How difficult is it to have a party?" Choosing a place, making a guest list, planning food, making a party theme, decorating and preparing bags are just a few things I think of. It seems so simple that you won't realize the details unless you are fully involved. If something goes wrong at the party, you always want to know the reason: is it food? Is it the venue? Is it because of the weather? Is it about the party game? Is it something else?

Another situation is related to newspaper publishers. He noticed that his three main customers (car manufacturers) had stopped advertising in his newspaper. He is worried about this and thinks about the cause of the problem at random. Can't his newspaper bring value to these car manufacturers? Can't his newspaper reach the target audience who want to buy a new car? Is the advertising price of competitors in the newspaper very low? Judging from the editing content, readership and timeliness of reporting, is the quality of his paper declining?

There are some similarities in both cases. Cause and effect. In order to cope with these influences, it is important to fully understand all the reasons. Ishikawa diagram helps to understand the complex interrelationships between various factors of the problem/problem, such as the situation of newspaper publishers discussed above.

Ishikawa map looks like a fish bone, commonly known as "fish bone map". Ideally, there is an oval/rectangular box on the right side of Ishikawa map. This box is marked with the problem/effect to be studied. There is a horizontal line (which can be regarded as a trunk line) and many "bones" (reading reasons). Each one has a label, on the left side of the chart. There may be several reasons for each reason, marked with smaller lines. Ishikawa's graphics make it very popular in analyzing daily problems and major differences between industries.