Causal factor categories play a central role in structured root cause analysis (RCA) within Serenity’s Investigation Management module. These categories form the branches of the Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram, a visual tool used to analyze and identify contributing factors behind an incident, failure, or nonconformance.
What Is a Fishbone Diagram?
The Fishbone Diagram, also known as the Ishikawa Diagram, is a common root cause analysis method. It helps teams:
Visually map out potential causes of a problem
Organize causes into themes (categories) for easier discussion
Drive structured and collaborative problem-solving sessions
Each “branch” of the fishbone represents a causal factor category that groups together a set of related contributing causes.
Default Categories
Serenity ships with common industry-aligned causal factor categories enabled by default:
Organizational Factors
Individual/Team Factor
Human Factors
Workplace Factors
Absent or Failed Defenses
These provide a solid foundation based on common RCA practices and can be expanded or adapted as needed.
Configuration Options
Currently, causal factor categories must be updated through Serenity’s support team. If your organization needs to:
Add new categories
Deactivate unused ones
Rename existing entries
📩 Reach out to your Serenity support contact or professional services representative for assistance.
🚧 Coming Soon
Serenity is working on enhancements that will allow Investigation Admins to manage these categories directly from the Investigation Settings page. Once released, you’ll be able to:
Add, remove, or rename categories on your own
Control which categories are active
✅ Best Practices
Keep your categories broad but relevant. Too many narrow or overlapping categories can clutter your RCA efforts. Start with 4–7 main branches that reflect your organization’s most common investigation themes, then allow contributors to drill into specific causes during the investigation.