Critical Chain - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [33]
"My impression is," Johnny says, as he turns on one of the overhead projectors, "that TOC is a blend of three different, yet related, breakthroughs."
He puts up his first transparency. "The first one, as we all suspected, is that TOC is actually a new management philosophy."
"Another one of those," Rick whispers to himself.
"In the past ten years," Johnny echoes Rick's discomfort as he resumes his pacing, "we came to know many new management philosophies. They came one after the other: TQM, JIT, re-engineering, the learning organization. . . . At first it looked like we were moving from one fad to another. It was confusing. Nobody liked it. Especially not us, the professors, who all of a sudden were forced to update our course material at an unprecedented pace.
"But then we started to realize that each one had its important contribution. Moreover, not like fashions of the past, all these philosophies are not contradicting each other. On the contrary, in many ways they are complimentary. Many started to believe that they all are just pieces of the same puzzle. Now that I have been intimately exposed to TOC, I think I know. They actually are. And in a much more fascinating way than we suspected. I'm going to demonstrate it."
He moves back to the overhead projector and points to the second line. "The second, and most important breakthrough of TOC, at least in my eyes, is the research methods it introduces. Methods that were adapted from the accurate sciences, adapted to fit systems that contain, not just atoms and electrons, but human beings.
"And the third breakthrough is, of course, the one TOC is known for the most, its broad spectrum of robust applications."
He pauses, goes back to the podium and points to the three sentences on the screen. "New management philosophy, new research methods and robust applications. I think the best way to demonstrate them all is by raising the question, ‘What is the biggest problem managers are facing today?' Anybody care to answer?"
A white-haired person in the front row is the first to answer, "How to win against the competition!"
Rick doesn't recognize him. He must be some hotshot from industry. But his answer, as trivial as it might sound, makes sense.
"Any other answers?"
"My opinion is different," says another top manager. "I think that the real problem is how, exactly, we should go about inducing our people to improve. We hear so much about the importance of empowerment, communication, teamwork. At the same time we hear so little about how to actually achieve it."
"He has a point," Jim whispers in Rick's ear. Rick is not so sure.
"In my company, we know exactly how to handle the competitors, and we don't have any problem inducing our people to improve. Our problem is how to shrink the development time of new products. Does TOC have an answer to this problem? If so, I'm very interested."
"So am I," Rick thinks, and whispers to Jim, "Who is that guy?"
"That's Pullman, the chairman of Genemodem," Jim tells him. "Some of their people are in our program."
"My problem is different," says the person sitting next to Pullman. "My biggest problem is my clients. They drive us crazy."
More answers are coming from all directions. Johnny raises his hands. "Please, that's enough. I'm sure that all your answers have merit, but let's not forget the subject of this presentation."
When it becomes quiet, he continues. "TOC regards what was said here as just symptoms. It claims that they all stem from one, single core problem. If true, this is a very profound statement. How am I going to prove it?"
He starts to pace again. "Let me start with the observation that most managers want to manage well; I don't know many who come to work each morning saying ‘How can I mess things up today.' But what does it mean, to manage well? Many things. For our discussion, we don't have to list them all. It's enough to agree that two things are absolutely necessary conditions. In order to manage