or how to make a perceptive difference relatively fast.
Every organisation is a system.
On the one hand systems can be complex, on the other hand they can guarantee great success if the right buttons are pushed.
A fitting example is a pot plant. The plant needs different resources such as light, water, fertilizer and a bigger pot from times to times. If the leaves are turning yellow or the plant doesn’t grow as fast as it should, it doesn’t make sense to water it, if in reality it needs more light. If light is the limiting factor, the plant grows twice as fast by giving it more light.
This example shows that many measures do not make sense, it’s just the bottleneck factor that matters.
For that reason, it is necessary to make an assumption what the bottleneck factor in the system could be. The factor can be the quality or the stability of a process, the employees, the marketing, or it is solely a bottleneck in an important process or project.
An experienced eye is able to detect such a bottleneck after a short time of analysis. Personally, I assume that I could create a well-founded analysis in one to three days for a medium-sized organisation. What is essential for that? An extensive tour through the production or rather the value adding processes, as well as representing conversation with occupational groups in the company.
According to Goldratt there are three rules:
After the bottleneck has been found, getting rid of the bottleneck has top priority. Everything else is secondary. That also means that other projects and activities have to be stopped, in order to create an effect in a short period of time (3-12 months). You won’t believe what’s possible just by setting priorities.
Setting priorities always means making decisions about subordination as well.
According to the lead-in sentence “First things first and second things not at all”, it’s necessary to define unpopular non-goals. That comes with explaining to the organisation why this goal is pursued and others not.
How to recognize a bottleneck/ restriction
It may sound banal and you may think it’s always taken into consideration. But executives and other employees are working on non-bottleneck parts of processes as well. That’s why often the influence of the employees determines which parts of the process get attention. Because of that, one must visualize and communicate the bottleneck the right way. The attention of the management has to be turned towards this part.
It’s important to have an extensive understanding and to work on the system, not in it.
In this context I’d like to recommend a book (a product placement free of charge). I’m really thankful for this book – “The goal” by Eliyahu Goldratt. It is written like a novel and shows how a bottleneck is solved in a fictitious company. It’s very recommendable not only because it’s simple and one can read it while on vacation or traveling by plane.
Fredmund Malik is talking about concentration on “few and important” objects in his book “Managing Performing Living: Effective Management for a New Era”
Personally, I always had a problem with the identification of the “important”. The “Theory of constraints” has by Goldratt helped me a lot. After a certain period of time, you are starting to develop a higher sensibility for bottlenecks and limitations.
In many cases it’s important that an external person analyses the situation, because you are not able to recognize the bottlenecks anymore.
That’s why I recommend this literature and offer to make a short analysis of your issues.
Summarized shortly:
What’s your opinion on this topic? Are there any questions left? I’m looking forward reading and answering your comments.