Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [340]
Use the multitasking game (Projects), dice game (Operations), P&Q game (Finance), and other TOC/systems-approach–based simulation games. These provide an effective and efficient (and fun) method for showing the potential gain in performance if one were to stop using local optima rules and start using TOC/system constraint focused rules. It also shows how frequently it is that assumptions block this potential, rather than the lack of resources or starting conditions, which are usually blamed for poor performance.
Important Role of a TOC Champion Supported by TOC Experts
For a company to start a TOC implementation, especially a holistic implementation of TOC, there must be an internal TOC champion who is well respected within the organization and supported by top management, with a critical mass of internal TOC supporters and (internal/external) TOC application experts. Internal TOC champions are people who are willing to take personal risks to move their organization, have adequate knowledge of the essence of TOC (what Goldratt calls the “gestalt”), and the ability to convince and motivate others (and off-course someone that will practice what they preach).
They relentlessly drive the culture change and ensure implementation support. We have observed that many TOC champions have limited success when they lack sufficient internal support, access to subject matter experts, or lukewarm top management support.
Finding and Leveraging Pockets of Excellence
Pockets of excellence exist in virtually all difficult or complex environments—whether it be in the private sector organizations that face the challenge of achieving exponential growth or simply surviving or the public sector organizations that face massive budget and resource constraints.
Every institution has its unique set of irrational and difficult constraints (Collins, 2006, 31), yet some make a leap while others, facing the same challenges, do not. Excellence or greatness is largely a matter of choice (where to focus) and discipline (taking the right actions and stopping the wrong actions).
In many cases, pockets of excellence can act as catalysts to identify what changes in rules/conditions contributed to stellar performance and possibly making the exception the rule.
Importance of a Simple Mechanism for Making Holistic Decisions
As long as decisions are still made based on many wrong assumptions engrained within traditional cost accounting, management decisions will continue to be in conflict with what is needed to support a holistic implementation of TOC. Implementing TA and specifically the mechanism to judge all decisions based on their impact on T, I, and OE is a simple and effective way to achieve better, faster global decisions at all levels. TA can help prevent devastating mistakes in decisions related to judging the financial performance of the organization as a whole or business units/departments, judging make/buy decisions, judging product/market/customer/project contribution, judging investments, and making pricing or budget decisions.
Using and Encouraging the Use of TOC’s Thinking Processes
Management and employees face many challenges every day that could cause them to lose focus; challenges such as finding win-win solutions to day-to-day or even chronic conflicts, having to deal with half-baked solutions, dealing with firefighting due to gaps between responsibility and authority, dealing with resistance to change, and how to motivate and inspire teams to achieve ambitious targets. The TOC TP such as the positive and negative branches, conflict cloud/dual conflict cloud, PRT, and S&T trees provide managers with practical thinking process tools to help deal with these challenges. Acceptance is assured when managers are seen to be using this capability.
Importance of Roadmaps, Follow-Up, and Follow-Through
Getting people to take action is not a triviality. Appreciation of a body of knowledge such as TOC will not necessarily lead to a decision and action. The overriding factor in