p.2,3,4 The Thinking Processes were originated by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt to address the unique and complex
issues of firms that were implementing his Theory of Constraints (TOC) in their production environments. Once their manufacturing
operations were 'fixed', these firms needed more than the techniques described in his landmark text, The Goal...
Goldratt's Institute was faced with more and more requests from a broader and broader audience. The common theme of the requests
was this: How, specifically, can I apply The Goal's ideas to my organization? What, specifically, do I do next?
And after that?... Goldratt's solution was to verbalize the processes by which anybody would be able to improve
their lot, regardless of the constraints... dramatic overall system improvement occurs when we focus our attention on the
activities of the system's physical constraint.
p.6,7 The Thinking Processes were developed to provide a systematic way to determine what obstacles lie
between our current and desired realities, to explain why those obstacles exist, to define the steps that will overcome the
obstacles, to define the order in which those steps should be taken, and to recognize when the plan should be altered... The
Thinking Processes provide a systematic approach to increasing our capacity to learn faster and deeper than ever before. The
Thinking Processes will prove to be fundamental learning tools in the Age of Agility.
p.15 When looking for its constraints, an organization must ask the question, "What is limiting
our ability to increase our rate of goal generation?" ...A constraint is defined as anything that limits
a system's higher performance relative to its purpose... Just as the strength of a chain is governed by
its weakest link, so is the strength of an organization of interdependent resources.
p.16 Every organization is a system of interdependent resources that together perform the processes needed
to accomplish the organization's purpose. Every organization has at least one, but very few, physical constraints. The key
to continuous improvement, then lies in what the organization is doing with those few constraints.
p.17 The Five Focusing Steps...
Step 1. Identify the system's constraint(s)...
Step 2. Decide how to exploit the system's constraint(s)...
Step 3. Subordinate everything else to the decisions made in steps one and two.
Step 4. Elevate the system's constraint(s) . Increase the capacity of the constrained resource, enabling
the system to attain even more of its goal...
Step 5. Don't allow inertia to be the system's constraint. When a constraint has been broken, go back to
step one.
p.23,24,25 After many years of teaching, coaching, and implementing, we have identified two prerequisites
to the Five Focusing Steps - or, for that matter, to any improvement effort - that are not really obvious...
1. Define the system and its purpose. What are you trying to improve? ... What is the system
trying to accomplish? ...
2. Determine the system's fundamental measurements. What does improvement
mean for this system? What are its global measures of success? Of failure? How does the system know whether
or not it's performing well?
...In my work with nonprofit organizations, I have come to the conclusion that the answers to the
two prerequisite questions are extremely unclear, and this is the root of most of the problems these organizations contend
with. At nonprofits, there is a tendency to believe that the measures are so intangible and that attainment of purpose
is such a subjective call, that such measures are simply not discussed... I am suggesting that when you begin an improvement
effort, that you begin it with a dialogue on these important issues... What is the system that we are trying to improve, what's
the purpose of the system, and what are its global measures? This dialog will help you take a focused and whole-system
approach to your improvement efforts.
p.29 Listed below are three steps that I recommend before using any of the thinking process application
tools...
1. Formulate the question... Before you sit down to use one of the thinking processes, ask yourself
what question you are trying to answer...
2. Choose the appropriate tool... once you verbalize your question, you will have the opportunity
to select the application tool or tools most suited to guide you to the answer...
3. Put on your learning hat. If you already know! the answer, don't bother spending time
with the thinking process tools!
p.31-32 Sufficient cause is the thought pattern of effect-cause-effect. When we assume that something, simply
because it exists, causes something else to exist, we are using sufficient cause thinking... When you are speculating
causes for effects, or effects of causes, you are actively using sufficient cause thinking. The TOC Thinking Processes
add a twist, by challenging us to ask why. Why do we believe that something causes something else?
Why do we believe that an effect is caused by that which we believe causes it?
p.36-37 An entity is a single element of a system... An arrow is an indicator of a relationship between
two entities. The entity at the base of the arrow is the cause... The entity at the point or tip of the arrow is
the effect... An arrow is where assumptions reside.
p.178 [Goldratt's] teaching acknowledges that every problem is a conflict, and
that conflicts arise because we create them by believing at least one erroneous assumption. Thus, simply by thinking
about the assumptions that enforce the existence of a conflict, we should be able to resolve any conflict... with the power
of our thinking.
p.194 The objectives are entities that describe the goals of the prerequisite tree. These are what the system is
going to accomplish as a result of attaining all the entities in the tree... The intermediate objectives are entities
that describe milestones that must be accomplished in order for the objectives to be accomplished. Each intermediate
objective is created in order to overcome an obstacle that stands in the way of achieving the objective(s)
p.199, 201 List the obstacles to achieving each of the objectives...For each obstacle, determine an intermediate
objective.
p.222-223 1. Create a current reality tree to identify a core problem.
2. Create an evaporating cloud to identify a systemic conflict that is perpetuating the core problem, to
brainstorm solutions to the core problem, and to select the initial elements of the solution.
3. Using an injection selected in step 2 as your starting point, create a future reality tree to develop
a robust solution to the core problem, eliminating the undesirable effects and blocking undesirable consequences.
4. Create a prerequisite tree to determine the necessary conditions (intermediate objectives) for implementing
the injections (objectives), and the sequence in which they should be accomplished.
5. Create transition trees to define the specific action plans for accomplishing the intermediate objectives
and objectives of the prerequisite tree...
use the tools to answer questions that you have yet to answer
p.243, 244 My intent with this book was to provide you with a user-friendly set of guidelines to
the thinking processes... The thinking processes have helped me in all aspects of my life. I hope that you,
too, will use them, play with them, continue to find new application for them, and, most of all, continuously improve with
them.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem
of human destiny is beyond human beings.
John F. Kennedy, 1963
Mind is the great lever of all things; human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered.
Daniel Webster"
