Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [488]
The concept of the constraint
The Five Focusing Steps (5FS) for constraint management
FIGURE 24-14 The detailed structure of the U-Shape.
The three basic concepts of TOC, also known as the three basic assumptions of TOC: convergence, win-win, and respect15
The process of ongoing improvement (BM, 5FS, What, to what, and how)
The U-Shape process allows the designer, the implementer, the sponsors, and the people supporting the initiative to go through a proper decision-making process that is based on a true consensus. As such, it allows the team to agree on the problem, the direction of the solution, the elements of the solution, and their corresponding benefits.
U-Shape and the Three Basic Assumptions of TOC
The U-Shape is based on the three basic assumptions of TOC. As such, we can state what is unique about the TOC Way.
Basic Assumption 1—Convergence-reality, and specifically human based systems, are governed by cause-and-effect relationships. Hence, it is always possible to find a root cause that affects the system. The convergence is presented in the left side of the U-Shape.
Basic Assumption 2—No conflict between local and global exists. As conflicts are caused by people’s perceptions or by systems, there must be a solution for every conflict. The implication of this assumption is that there should be a win-win solution for every conflict. The win-win solution is comprised of the injections on the right side of the U-Shape.
Basic Assumption 3—Handle people with respect. The entire U-Shape represents this basic assumption. It contains the respect of the managers for themselves. It reflects the seriousness in which they take their jobs. Respect for other people is demonstrated through the sharing of the work done and the willingness to ascertain and integrate inputs and views expressed by people who are relevant to the work.
The way these assumptions are incorporated on the U-Shape is given in Fig. 24-15.
The overall structure of the U-Shape contains several major blocks regarding the system under study.
Current Reality—reflected in the left side of the U-Shape:
The unsatisfactory level of performance
The problem
Future Reality—reflected in the right side of the U-Shape:
The solution
Checking and removing risks
The desired outcomes
The improved performance
The essence of the approach for the solution point—the pivot—is the turning point from the left side to the right side of the U-Shape.
FIGURE 24-15 The U-Shape and the three basic assumptions of TOC.
The Use of the U-Shape for Solving Daily Problems
Due to its generic structure of moving from the problem to the solution through the pivot, the U-Shape is valid for describing the approach for solving one problem as well as for the entire system.
The process outline used for all the daily problems corresponds to the U-Shape:
Step 1: Identify the problem—the desire to deal with the problem stems from the unsatisfactory performance revealed by the problem and the need to improve the situation.
Step 2: The Storyline—helps to unleash the intuition about the current reality explaining why the problem has caused the low performance. This is similar to identifying the UDEs and explaining how they cause the low performance.
Step 3 and Step 4: Build, Check, and Upgrade the Cloud— are the manifestation of the convergence and result in a Cloud that explains why under the current conditions it is impossible to find a workable solution.
Step 5: Surface the assumptions—is a part of working with the Cloud, in preparation for constructing the solution.
Steps 6: Construct the solution—corresponds to the whole right side of the U-Shape:
1. The pivot—in search for injections that can break the Cloud.
2. The direction of the solution—when the solution contains a change in the mindset or a system change (like in the multi-problem case).
3. The injections themselves.
4. Stating the logic that the solution will bring the benefits