Which diagram helps to identify and analyze a problem's root causes?

The fishbone diagram, also known as the Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, is specifically designed to identify and analyze the root causes of a problem. This tool visually maps out the various potential causes of an issue, allowing teams to categorize and explore them systematically.

By organizing potential causes into categories—such as people, processes, materials, and environment—the fishbone diagram provides a comprehensive view that helps analysts and teams identify contributing factors to a problem. This increased visibility can facilitate discussions and brainstorming sessions, making it easier to pinpoint the main sources of an issue.

In contrast, other diagrams serve different purposes. A flowchart provides a visual representation of a process and its sequential steps, primarily focusing on the workflow rather than root causes. A Gantt chart is used for project scheduling, illustrating timelines and dependencies for tasks, which doesn’t lend itself to root cause analysis. An entity-relationship diagram is employed to illustrate data relationships and structures in databases, thus also not suited for uncovering problem roots. Each of these diagrams serves a function in systems analysis but does not focus specifically on root causes as effectively as the fishbone diagram does.