They should optimize for constraint (and thus system) performance, not their own individual performance, the results of which we witnessed in post #102. The job of all non-constraints is to subordinate their decisions to the constraint’s needs. “Optimize” in this sense means “doing everything possible to use the constraint to its fullest capacity.” Step 3: Subordinate the non-constraints Step 2: Optimize the constraintīefore adding capacity, we need to use the capacity we already have. This tells us where to focus our improvement efforts, since we know that only an improvement at the constraint makes a difference. Now we are finally reaching the very heart of TOC, the continuous improvement method to increase throughput in any system of value creation, known as the Five Focusing Steps: Step 1: Identify the constraint ![]() ![]() ![]() In the previous post, I told the story of a software engineering team at Microsoft who used the Theory of Constraints to produce dramatic improvements in productivity.īut I hope something bothered you: how exactly did they know which changes to make? What process did they use to develop that particular solution? Unless we know this, the best we can do is follow rigid prescriptions that are unlikely to work in different contexts. A series of 5-minute posts on applying principles of flow to knowledge work
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