Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [82]
The Uptake Problem is readily acknowledged across many types of implementations, but is very difficult to quantify. Experts and companies seldom have an incentive to reveal negative data, so we see only one side of the picture. When we find and accept negative data, the extent of the Uptake Problem—difficulties getting going, the extent to which improvements continue, etc.—is difficult or impossible to analyze. Even the definition of success will tend to vary by time and organization. There are tidbits that reference the problem, but never a full meal.
Yearly surveys from the Lean Enterprise Institute indicate that backsliding is a perennial problem. (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2008, 1)
“Although individual lean concepts and tools are easy to understand, to be truly successful in the application of these concepts and tools, the majority of the organization must change the way it looks at work. . . And so far, the vast majority of the organizations that start on the lean transformation journey are not successful at making this transition.” (Koenigsaecker, 2009, 79)
“Statistics from 150+ implementations . . . 15% of the implementations failed to take hold[,] despite initial successes[;] 15% of the implementations failed to even take off.” (Gupta, 2005, 3)
“In practice (in our experience) most [Critical Chain] implementations have failed after the person driving the process has moved on.” (Retief, 2009, 1)
Hobbs and Aubry found that 42 percent of Program Management Offices (PMOs) have had their relevance or even existence seriously questioned in recent years, leading them to believe that, “… about half of organizations are critical enough of PMOs to decide not to implement one or to seriously consider shutting theirs down if they already have one.” (2006, 13).
Frequent anecdotal evidence suggests that the Uptake Problem is significant with any major change initiative, including Theory of Constraints (TOC), Enterprise Resource Planning, Enterprise Project Management, Lean, and Six Sigma.
ProChain’s experience, gained over the course of 12 years observing our clients and the clients of others implement Critical Chain, confirms that the Uptake Problem is real and pervasive. We have found that:
The Uptake Problem is more severe with larger projects, larger organizations, and organizations that perform projects involving significant uncertainty (e.g., research and development).
The immediate value of Critical Chain to project managers is such that individual project managers, once trained, will often attempt to continue to use it whether or not the organization embraces it.
People (and organizations) who take the perspective that Critical Chain is a toolset, rather than a significant change process, are unlikely to maintain successes over the long-term.
There is a direct correlation between implementation success and willingness to adopt the CORE concepts described in this chapter. For example, every company that has started a ProChain rollout within the last five years has continued increasing their use of and value obtained from Critical Chain over time.4
Before we can fix the Uptake Problem, we need to understand it. The following analysis follows the Current Reality Tree (CRT) shown in Fig. 5-1 through Fig. 5-3. A CRT is a tool to pinpoint common causes responsible for many effects.5 Read the boxes in the tree in numeric sequence. Boxes with no arrows leading into them are “root causes”; they should be examined for validity. Other boxes should be read following the arrows, using if-then logic. When multiple arrows go through an ellipse, read “and.” For example, starting at the bottom of Fig. 5-1: “if (1) sometimes people lack urgency to change to a