Cause and Effect Analysis

What it does

Systematically exploring all potential causes of a problem across multiple categories using a Fishbone (Ishikawa) structure.

When this skill is activated, Chalie follows these steps:

Use recall to surface any relevant context or prior analysis on this problem.
State the problem clearly as the central issue and use write_file to capture the Fishbone structure.
For the People and Process categories, brainstorm potential causes related to skills, communication, workflows, and standards — use search to validate any factual claims.
For the Environment and Methods categories, consider external factors, situational conditions, approaches, and practices that may contribute — record each via write_file.
For the Materials or Resources category, assess whether inputs, data, tools, or dependencies are contributing factors — use search to confirm availability or known issues.
Across all categories, ask “Why?” for each identified cause to determine whether it is a contributing factor or a root cause — note each level via write_file.
Prioritise causes by impact and likelihood, then use search to find evidence or prior art supporting the highest-priority root causes.
Use write_file to save the complete Fishbone analysis with ranked root causes and targeted solutions for each.

v1 (curated)