Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [553]
Most importantly, the Socratic approach toward teaching TOC was a refreshing change for an audience who was so used to being told what to do. By helping them to find their “voice,” inmates gradually became more receptive and motivated about learning and applying the tools learned. For maximum recall, fun quizzes, worksheets, and notes were given to inmates at relevant junctures throughout the course. Inmates were also given “homework” to bring back to their cells, allowing them more time for individual reflection and informal group discussions while allowing trainers to effectively focus the classroom training period on delivering material.
Language
By default, the entire workshop was conducted in English due to language limitations on the part of the trainers. As a result, considerable modification to training materials was required to ensure the audience could follow the TP. In almost all cases, the target group could understand and speak simple English intermingled with local dialect, but the learning process was often hampered by weak vocabulary and communication skills. Much of the TOC terminology proved incomprehensible to the audience, resulting in heavy editing of original training materials as well as ongoing translation by self-volunteered translators within the group.
Ironically, even in their own language, many were often at a loss for words through lack of practice because everyday prison lingo tended to be abbreviated and colloquial, which was inadequate to express what they really meant. With this handicap, writing was an even bigger problem as evidenced by the tortured yet comical facial expressions of the inmates while complaining about their “brain jam” and “brain freeze” when asked to express what they felt at the end of each session.
In a strange twist, this constraint turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it resulted in enormous camaraderie within the group. Much collaborative effort was spent after class in their cells debating how best to define accurately their personal problems as evidenced in the high quality of homework. Forced to summarize their life stories within the small boxes in each TOC tool, they were taught conciseness and clarity of thought. On the part of the translators, their new role gave them a sense of importance and responsibility, while higher-level learning was reinforced through continuous internalization, interpretation, and repetition. In true TOC fashion, the burden of individual conflicts soon became shared group concerns.
In hindsight, the forced slower delivery of the more difficult parts of the course allowed the audience much more time than average to think and reflect. Most importantly, it forced us to condense the materials into the simplest denominator for basic understanding, which drove us to the core of TOC.
Duration
Attention span was earmarked as a potential problem from the onset as most participants had not stepped into a classroom environment for more than 10 years. Not unlike young children, many participants initially found it difficult to stay still and focused for long periods, so we needed to provide constant group activities and breakout sessions to retain their attention. To further address this problem, program sessions were split from three straight days into six 3-hour workshops spread over a two-week period,6 which also gave them a chance to reflect and internalize the skills learned through homework over the weekend in the privacy of their own cells.
Results
The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate