How can the Theory of Constraints framework improve your leadership skills?

1 Identify the constraint

The first step is to find out what is the main factor that limits your ability to achieve your desired outcome. This could be a physical constraint, such as a lack of equipment, or a policy constraint, such as a rigid rule or procedure. To identify the constraint, you can use tools such as the current reality tree, which maps out the cause-and-effect relationships between your problems and your goal, or the five whys, which helps you drill down to the root cause of an issue. Once you identify the constraint, you can focus your attention and resources on it.

2 Exploit the constraint

The second step is to make the most of the constraint by maximizing its output and minimizing its waste. This means ensuring that the constraint is always working on the most important tasks, that it has enough support and inputs from other processes, and that it does not produce any defects or rework. To exploit the constraint, you can use tools such as the throughput accounting, which measures the profitability of each process based on its contribution to the constraint, or the drum-buffer-rope, which synchronizes the flow of work according to the pace of the constraint.

3 Subordinate everything else

The third step is to align all the other processes and resources to the constraint, so that they do not create any excess inventory or work in progress that would slow down the constraint. This means prioritizing the tasks that feed the constraint, reducing the variability and uncertainty in the system, and eliminating any activities that do not add value to the constraint. To subordinate everything else, you can use tools such as the future reality tree, which shows how your actions will affect the constraint and the goal, or the thinking processes, which help you communicate and align your assumptions and expectations with your stakeholders.