Goldratt's theory of constraints is an analytical tool applied to manufacturing environments. At any point in time, a system's productivity will be limited by a constraint or bottleneck. The first step is to identify the bottleneck in any process. Then workflow should be optimised up to the capacity of the bottleneck in order to avoid wasted effort. Finally, the bottleneck should be attacked to expand the overall productive capacity of the system.
Try identifying the bottlenecks in your life. For example
1. If you work in accounting but aren't fully qualified, this may be an obvious barrier to further career advancement.
2. Data should drive decisions, and publicly available data will clearly show the salary and status gains that accrue as a student moves from part-qualified to fully qualified status.
3. A cost-benefit analysis and time/money investment appraisal should therefore be undertaken to assess the gains from eliminating this bottleneck. If the net present value is positive, invest in the qualification, expand your productive capacity and remove the bottleneck.
The sands of time
Some constraints can be elevated but never eliminated, for to be human is to have limitations. The ultimate bottleneck we face is the narrow window of time called the present moment. We may have a deep reservoir of skills, capabilities and memories. We may have an imagined ocean of ambitions, dreams and aspirations. The past and future have to connect through the narrow conduit called the present moment. In a sense, this little window of time is all we truly own. Only in the present moment do we have the freedom to choose purposeful action and even this may be severely curtailed by circumstances.
Imagine you are an author composing a work using an old-fashioned manual typewriter. Existing text is history and the blank page is the future. Every new letter has to be struck once at a time through a narrow ribbon - this is the present moment, the bottleneck. Your typing speed is limited by the physical capacity of the device and your own dexterity. No letter can be undone, and corrections can only be made messily and sometimes not at all. It is not possible to pivot above the text, editing the past or finding short-cuts to the future, except in your imagination. Moreover you are writing to a deadline, for the typewriter is on loan, and time is the most irreplaceable commodity of all.
(c) WestOcean 2008
