Critical Chain - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [63]
I point to one red step where, according to their numbers, the buffer it feeds is still untouched. "What is the urgency in finishing this step?" I ask.
Nobody answers. Mark moves closer to examine what is written on the red step. He turns to one of his people. "Why the urgency?"
"I don't know," this person answers, and points to our skinny guy.
"You see the next step?" He has a matching squeaky voice. "My people are supposed to do it."
"So?"
"And they can't start before that step is finished." I still don't get it.
Mark doesn't either.
"You know that they finished everything else," comes the squeaky explanation.
They are all over him. The efficiency syndrome is alive and kicking, not just in production. I wonder how many of their ‘emergencies' are such false alarms. They probably wonder the same because they check every red dot on their chart. In the end, only four remain.
It's much better, but we still haven't finished.
"There is something else that might delay the critical path," I remind them. "Sometimes everything is ready for a step on the critical path except for the appropriate resource, which is still busy doing something else."
We discuss how to prevent such delays. They invent the resource buffer.
That's a concept I haven't yet covered in class, and their debate teaches me a lot about the practical aspects of exactly how to implement it. But I can't stay any longer. It's our theater night, and I'm not going to let Judith down.
I leave. They are deep in the details.
Chapter 17
"It's much easier to implement than we hoped," Mark says, concluding his presentation to the class.
"Any results?" Brian asks.
Mark fidgets. "It's only four weeks since we learned in class what to do, and it's three weeks since we actually implemented it. Now, you know that in a development project of two years..."
"Three weeks is nothing," Brian completes Mark's sentence. "I know. Still, can you see any tangible results?"
"What do you mean by tangible results?" Ruth is slightly snappy. "Do you expect that in three weeks we'll complete the project? I hope not. But then, what else would you call tangible?"
"Hey, I'm not criticizing," Brian defends himself. "I think that what you've done is terrific. I just wonder if you have any hard evidence of real progress. That's all."
Fred puts his hand on Ruth's arm, and to Brian, he says. "There are some numbers. But first I have to explain something. Remember the criticisms we all had on the way we measure the progress of a project?"
"Yes. Vividly."
"Well, we changed the way we measure progress. Progress for us is now measured only on the critical path; what percent of the critical path we have already completed. That's all we care about."
"We are doing the same," Brian replies. "It does work much better."
So my students are using what they learn here. That's delightful news to me.
Fred nods and continues, "According to this measurement we have made a lot of progress in the last three weeks. For example, in the previous three months..."
"Forget the numbers," Mark interrupts. "Let me tell you what progress we made in much more real terms. Do you know what happens when it's clear to everybody that we are going to be late on delivering? Really late?"
In a bitter tone he answers his own question. "Everybody is then on the project leader's back to cut corners. First to compromise on the quality checks, then to trim targeted performance."
"Same thing in computer software," Charlie is all smiles. "No difference."
"A month ago," Mark is waving his big hands, "everyone on my team had already come to me with suggestions of which specifications to trim. They were all over me to start discussing it with my boss. Today, after only three weeks, this pressure is off.