Improving a technical solution with the Theory of Constraints

by Patryk Kocielnik

The steps suggested by Goldratt in his Theory of Constraints follow:

  1. Decide on the goal of the system,
  2. Determine the system’s performance measures,
  3. Identify the system’s constraint(s),
  4. Decide how to Exploit the system’s constraint(s),
  5. Subordinate everything else to the decision taken in step 4,
  6. Elevate the system’s constraint(s),
  7. If in a previous step the constraint is broken, go back to step 3,
  8. Do not let Inertia cause a system constraint.

-- Scholarpedia

But, beware! There’s another form of inertia, one that is much more difficult to identify and overcome: External Inertia. It’s the “inertia” caused by the set “rules” within your organization, the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality that may resist the changes you implemented when you broke your constraint. The challenge with these rules is that they were good, and even helpful, at one time, so people are reluctant to give them up. Teams realize that these directives were put in place to help the organization be more effective based upon the way it was operating. But now, they may not realize these precedents are no longer relevant since we’ve changed the game and the way

-- Scholarpedia