#ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM CULTURE PEOPLE SOFTWARE#
#ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM CULTURE PEOPLE CODE#

The fact that you have 6 different categories there would make team consider a vast range of factors, which could result in finding not-so-obvious stuff. I could imagine a team working with this diagram.

#ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM CULTURE PEOPLE SOFTWARE#

Ok, to conclude, I would say that I like the idea of using Ishikawa diagram for finding the major problems of software development. Now the team could look at all the issues described and decide which of them are of the main importance (“root causes”) and should be fixed. The whole picture could look like this (it doesn’t matter that you can’t read the small fonts, really): Below an example example of single category analysis in all its glory:Īs you can see you go as deep as it is required to find the causes which cause other causes 🙂 “5 whys” is the technique you would probably use for this. The beauty of electronic version is that you can hide some parts of the picture and analyze a selected branch or two. Here is an “overview” (with only first-level causes visible): In reality that would be probably pen & paper (a very large paper!). I have used XMind (free version) to prepare the diagrams. This was only my attempt to see how this tool – Ishikawa diagram – could be used.

And this is the result.ĭISCLAIMER: I do not claim this diagram to be complete, or very smart, or that it solves any real issue. I spent like 10 minutes drawing a diagram for a hypothetical team (definitely NOT the one I currently work with!).

#ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM CULTURE PEOPLE CODE#

Measurements: Data generated from the process that are used to evaluate its quality – hmmm…, I think that would be various metrics like code coverage etc.Application or System) would be also fine. I have left the “Materials” term unchanged, but other names (e.g. Then I realized that the material we work is, is simply the software. used to produce the final product – this made me think for few seconds. Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc.Environment: The conditions, such as location, time, temperature, and culture in which the process operates – maybe not so important in case of software development than in factories, but also worth analyzing.required to accomplish the job– I would suggest to use the “Tools” term which includes both the hardware (devs machines, CI server) and software (i.e. Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools, etc.Methods: How the process is performed and the specific requirements for doing it, such as policies, procedures, rules, regulations and laws – I think the “Process” term is better suited for software development.People: Anyone involved with the process – no need to change, there are many people-related problems in IT.At first I thought that I will have to modify the original categories, but after a while it occurred to me, that no major changes, but rather a refactoring of names is required (the descriptions were copied from Wikipedia article): I have to say that I’ve enjoyed this little experiment. I wanted to try it myself, so I choose an arbitrary (but quite common) problem – “low quality of software” – and tried to use Ishikawa diagram to find the causes. (I will not explain Ishikawa diagram in this post, so please have a look at Wikipedia description of Ishikawa Diagram if it does not ring any bells for you). And I started to wonder whether it makes sense to use it to diagnose the issues related to the production of software. OCLC 904826764.Today I have learned about Ishikawa diagram (AKA fishbone diagrams, herringbone diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams, or Fishikawa). Handbook of Lean Manufacturing in the Food Industry. Reliability engineering : a life cycle approach. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEAs) for small business owners and non-engineers : determining and preventing what can go wrong. ^ 'Fishbone diagram: Solving problems properly'.Improving complex systems today : proceedings of the 18th ISPE International Conference on Concurrent Engineering. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: American Society for Quality.

Ishikawa diagram culture people