Bite off more than you can chew, and you will choke on the rest; or so our grandmothers used to say. There are countless moments in life—personal, professional, academic—when trying to do everything at once scatters our energy and keeps us from reaching our goals. Who hasn’t bought a brand-new diary in September, determined to keep on top of every commitment, only to abandon it after losing the bigger picture? Who hasn’t had every tool to finish a task at work, only to be stalled by small roadblocks along the way.
Folklore is not alone in developing theories around process optimisation and the need to reset our priorities. Taking the efficiency of his own business as a departure point, the Israeli physicist Eliyahu M. Goldratt (1947–2011) permanently shifted the corporate mindset by formulating the Theory of Constraints or TOC.
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Goldratt’s theory rests on a simple premise: every system has a specific point that dictates its performance. It might be a single step or an IT system; the fact is that whenever we pause to analyse a process, we will invariably uncover a weak link that, to a greater or lesser degree, slows down every stage and therefore makes reaching the final outcome that much harder.
That was precisely the conclusion reached by Dr Eliyahu M. Goldratt when, in the 1980s, he began to ask whether the scientific method and scientific problem-solving techniques could be applied to his software company. Preceded by the “bottleneck” theories of the German thinker Wolfgang Mewes, Goldratt embarked on an investigation that would culminate in the bestselling novel The Goal.
Goldratt’s theory rests on a simple premise: every system has a specific point that dictates its performance.
Published in 1984 by North River Press, The Goal presents a fictional case study: that of Alex Rogo, a plant manager at UniCo Manufacturing. Rogo’s plant has been struggling with its order fulfilment, plagued by chronic delays that lead to constant firefighting and a complete lack of responsiveness. At this point, the manager is given an ultimatum: a senior company executive gives him three months to resolve the plant’s chronic problems, or face closure. Confronted with this make-or-break dilemma, Rogo turns to his friend Jonah, a fictional stand-in for the author himself, to ask for advice and get the company back on track.
Who better than Socrates, with his famous maieutic method, to help a manager in distress? Jonah begins the process by questioning different members of the team, who set out the daily problems they face. Through this question-and-answer approach, prompting both the workforce and Rogo himself to reflect on their daily routines and automatic habits, Rogo is able to start building a far more detailed picture of production and its processes. Within this detailed operational view, Jonah and Alex Rogo begin to identify the seemingly minor friction points that ultimately clog up the entire production run; namely, the so-called “bottlenecks”.
Through their investigation, Jonah and Rogo discover three distinct types of constraints present across the company: physical constraints (linked to equipment capacity, facilities, or available resources), policy constraints (internal rules and how work is coordinated), and market constraints (a shortfall in demand or an inability to adapt to market demand).
Once the bottlenecks are identified, the solution proves far simpler and faster than Rogo could have imagined: the manager focuses all his efforts on overcoming these broken processes, which boosts the company’s overall throughput and day-to-day operation. Within the timeframe stipulated by his superior, Rogo not only hits the required targets, but positions his plant among the best-performing facilities in the entire company.
Developing a more detailed understanding of daily processes allows managers to prioritise effectively and view constraints not as insurmountable hurdles, but as signs pointing the way forward.
In this way, developing a more detailed understanding of daily processes—in essence, self-awareness—allows managers to prioritise effectively and view constraints not as insurmountable hurdles, but as signs pointing the way forward. Goldratt's parable demonstrates that clearing the bottlenecks in our professional lives requires one indispensable first step: identifying their root cause and cutting them down to size. When going through a rough patch professionally, we tend to assume it stems from a massive problem that is difficult to resolve; reality shows that small adjustments can lead to substantial change.
The Theory of Constraints works as an ongoing practice, because there is always room for improvement.
That said, the process makes it clear that constraints cannot always be resolved on the spot and do not necessarily disappear permanently. The Theory of Constraints works as an ongoing practice, because there is always room for improvement, something to review, and something to unblock. To do that, we can always pause for a moment, ask ourselves what we can change, and do so with our eyes firmly set on what comes next.
Dalia Alonso holds a degree in Classical Philology from the University of Oviedo. Her writing reflects a thoughtful approach to major social and business challenges. She is currently an editor at Ethic magazine, where she covers topics such as leadership, productivity, and social and workplace transformation. She has also worked in strategic communications and storytelling for various organisations, helping to craft narratives that resonate with corporate values.