Theory of Constraints 109: The Psychology of Subordination

A series of 5-minute posts on applying principles of flow to knowledge work

Previously, I described how to go about optimizing the constraint in an organization. The next step, #3 in the Five Focusing Steps, is to subordinate the work of all other employees to that constraint:

1. Identify the constraint
2. Optimize the constraint
3. Subordinate the non-constraints
4. Elevate the constraint
5. Return to step 1

This is perhaps the least appreciated and least intuitive of the Five Focusing Steps. To understand why subordination is so critical, consider that virtually none of the measures we’ve discussed so far targeting the constraint are possible in isolation. They all require cooperation from the non-constraints.

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