Theory of Constraints

Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a philosophy of management and improvement originally developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. A trained physicist, Goldratt became and “management  guru” with his book “The Goal”.

Goldratt probably was laughed at by his academic peers, for coming up with such a simple idea. The theory didn’t even have an equation – quite a shame for a physicist.

But Goldratt’s shame in the academic world turned into fame in the practical managerial world. I wasn’t accidental. The theory, which I think is more like a principle, works.

Not only it works in the job of a manager, it works almost everywhere. It works for a student, a parent, a worker, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, even a priest.

The TOC simply instructs us to find the bottleneck to our current performance, remove it, then work on the next bottleneck. Then do it again, and again.

The key value of TOC is not what it tells you to work on, but what not to work on. ie., don’t waste time on non-bottleneck.

Simple, right?

But how many of us are just so undisciplined to keep work on non-constraints?

Why? Because bottlenecks are often where our weaknesses lie. It is where our fear is. In short, it is the place where we have avoided – often unconsciously.

Take an example, if you are afraid of public speaking, it will drag your career down for years, until you decided one day to face it and make a breakthrough. Otherwise you get stuck forever.