Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [480]
The UDE is an effect and its existence is indisputable (even though people may argue about its magnitude). It is undesirable—it endangers, reduces, or prohibits achieving a valid need, objective, or even the goal of a system.
The UDE is a cornerstone of the TOC analysis of the current reality. This is true because it focuses us on what is going wrong; that is, what it is we need to fix. It sets us on a path to changing what is undesirable to outcomes that are desirable. As such, we have to ensure that the UDE is valid and verbalized correctly. The UDE has a clear syntax with clear guidelines:
It is a complaint about an ongoing problem that exists in your reality and because of this problem, you cannot perform better. It should be written in present tense.
It is a description of the state, not an action.
It is within your area of responsibility.
Something can be done about it.
It must not blame someone.
It must not be a speculated cause.
It must not be a hidden solution to the problem (wishful thinking of solving the problem).
It should contain one entity.
It should not include its cause in its verbalization.
It should be factual and not subjective.
It should be a complete sentence.
The UDE Cloud Process
Step 1: Identify UDEs.
A problem can be defined as a UDE when:
It has negative implications on the performance of the system.
It has been in existence for a length of time (at least several months).
There have been attempts to sort it out with little or no success.
Such a consistent difficulty in solving the problem indicates that the system has an inherent problem that prevents attempts to solve this problem. We need to find what it is and for that, we need the UDE Cloud.
Another important application of the UDE Cloud is in the sales process.
Let us assume that the company has a good offer for the market based on improved service. A good offer is a solution for a problem that the potential customer is experiencing but has not managed to resolve successfully. This means that the buyer has a conflict and we had better prepare ourselves by using the Cloud method. When we are convinced that our offer breaks the customer’s UDE conflict in a win-win solution, we have the basis for a value proposition for them using the Cloud.
Therefore, in this part we refer to two types of UDEs:
System UDE—for a manager to analyze an issue within his area of responsibility
Customer UDE—for the sales and marketing people preparing an offer to their customers
The process of building the Cloud, constructing the solution, and communicating the solution to the relevant people is identical for both types of UDEs. For the sake of clarity, the example of the system UDE is used while describing the process and the customer UDE example comes after completing Step 7 of the UDE Cloud process.
Step 2: Write the storyline.
Step 3: Build the UDE Cloud.
Building a Cloud is done through answering the questions associated with each box in the Cloud. The sequence of answering these questions for the UDE Cloud resembles a Z shape:
[B]→[D]→[C]→[D′]→[A]
[B]: Why is this UDE undesirable? What important need of the system does it jeopardize or endanger?
[D]: What action should be taken to meet the jeopardized need in B?
[C]: What other important need prevents you from always taking the action D?
[D′]: What action do you take to meet the need in C?
[A]: What is the common objective achieved with both B and C?
Example of a System UDE Cloud-Production
The Production Manager of an engineering company is complaining about the difficulty in assembling the final products due to shortages of parts.
UDE: We have too many shortages of parts for assembly.
Building the UDE Cloud:
[B]: