Fishbone

⏱ 4 min  ·  📅 2026

The Fishbone, also known as the Ishikawa diagram or cause-and-effect diagram, is a retrospective technique that uses a visual representation shaped like a fish skeleton to identify the causes contributing to a problem. It is carried out in the third phase of the retrospective. It lasts between 30 and 60 minutes.

Description and objectives

It is used to review symptoms that point to a root problem and to explore the most likely causes. The team identifies the factors that are causing or affecting a problematic situation, looks for the most likely causes behind those factors, and then designs actions to influence them.

When to use it

• When the team has identified a recurring problem and needs to understand its causes in a structured way before proposing solutions.
• As a complement to Five Whys: the Fishbone organizes causes by category; the five whys dig deeper into each cause.
• When the problem has multiple dimensions (technical, organizational, human, process) that are worth exploring in parallel.

How to run the activity

1. Draw a fishbone diagram. The problem to be addressed is the head of the fish. Include the five W's: What, Who, When, Where, Why. Write one category on each bone. The team can create its own categories or use common frameworks such as:
   • Methods, Materials, Machinery, Personnel (or manpower).
   • Place, Procedure, People, Policies.
   • Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills.
2. Brainstorm the factors that may fit into each category. The guiding question is: "What are the [category] issues that may cause or contribute to [problem]?"
3. Each member can write the factors on sticky notes and stick them on the bones, or the facilitator writes them directly on the diagram.
4. Look for the factors that appear in more than one category: these are usually the most likely causes.
5. Identify areas where the team can act with the greatest impact.
6. The results are used as the basis for the next phase of the retrospective.

Common mistake

Stopping at the first obvious factors. The structure of the Fishbone invites the team to explore causes across multiple categories, but if the team only contributes the most obvious causes ("lack of time," "changing requirements") without digging deeper, the diagram ends up being a map of symptoms, not causes. Combining the Fishbone with the five whys on each bone helps reach deeper and more actionable causes.

Resources

🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective, in Spanish]Template · Scrum Manager

📄 Tercera fase de una retrospectiva: crear conocimiento [Third phase of a retrospective: generating insights, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2023

References

• Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.

See also

Retrospective Five Whys Brainstorming/Filtering Force field analysis Patterns and shifts Working agreements

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