Clarke Ching links us to an Interview with Eli Goldratt from Supply Chain Digest.
All in theory of constraints
Clarke Ching links us to an Interview with Eli Goldratt from Supply Chain Digest.
Bill Brantley has a nice writeup of a "TOC Analysis of Technology" based on the Goldratt audio book, Beyond the Goal. The key idea is that technology is beneficial if and only if it diminishes a limitation.
Clarke Ching has found an interesting (and long) report that uses Theory of Constraints to study the UK Network Rail's capacity.
Malcolm Ryder has a recent piece that looks at Change that provides some steps to consider on the way to creating change within the organization. As I read his article, I saw some parallels to the Theory of Constraints' five focusing steps.
The McKinsey Quarterly has Ten trends to watch in 2006 by Ian Davis and Elizabeth Stephenson, which are really trends to watch over the next decade. Several of these ring for me.
Lucas RodrÃguez Cervera points to Just Enough Process Management by Tammy Adams at the BPMInstitute website. Rather than perfections, she suggests just enough Clarity, Change, Measurement, and Control.
David Anderson's "Drumming in the Dark" talks about what happens when the constraint isn't obvious. The answer is deceptively simple, and TOC provides guidance.
The December 2005 Business 2.0 has an article about Dell's newest manufacturing facility that may reflect theory of constraints principles: "Dude, You're Getting a Dell--Every Five Seconds."
I've mentioned Goldratt Consulting's Viable Vision a number of times, and a few people have asked for more details. The Viable Vision is a strategy for transforming a business so that within four years, its net profits are today's total sales.
George Siemens points to an article on Task-Switching, Emotional Motivation, and Reward from Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide. They in turn are writing about a paper on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that studied people who are asked to switch tasks. There might be a connection to multi-tasking.
Bill Brantly has been thinking about how KM, TOC and Strategy are all related. Now he is proposing a mash-up of all these in "Knowledge Management, Theory of Constraints, and Strategy."
Bruce MacEwan found some interesting Drucker quotes in the pages of the Wall Street Journal's feature on the legacy of Drucker. At first glance Drucker and Viable Vision seem to be at odds.
Clarke Ching has found a great Theory of Constraints resource. And it has some guidance on The Haystack Syndrome.
This isn't really an All Request Day, like Dennis or Sherry do, but a commenter has asked for my impressions of the TOC training I took this summer.
I know I am a little late to the game, but I just finished the very enjoyable The Innovator's Solution by Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor. I particularly liked the no-nonsense tone of the book. And I see some connection to theory of constraints, once again.
Bruce Hoppe finds an interesting set of discussions that suggest "conflict is good" in his "Conflict: something we can all agree on." I wonder if there is a connection with constraints in TOC.
'Vision without execution is hallucination.' - Thomas Edison. And an hour saved at a non-bottleneck is a mirage (Goldratt).
Pop quiz: Do you want a bottleneck in your business? Why or why not?
Places to Intervene in a Systemm, a 1997 article by Donella Meadows has been reprinted in a software developer magazine. Meadows was an important player in the systems thinking world. She founded the Sustainability Institute, and she seems to have been at least peripherally involved with theory of constraints.
In an environment where everyone knows the goal of the system, collaboration become the way of doing business. People know what their roles are and how they support the goal. [Update: Article no longer free.]