How to work smarter, not harder
Remove roadblocks in life & work with the Theory of Constraints
The rules of an Olympic relay race are simple.
Each team has four athletes who run as fast as they can (for a set distance) before passing a baton to the next runner. The fastest team wins.
The baton handoff, though, is not always simple.
Imagine passing an 11-inch tube to your teammate while sprinting at top speed. And at the 2008 Summer Games, 16 of the 32 British sprint relay teams were disqualified for incorrect or non-existent baton handovers.
Experts called the problem “failure to connect.”
The botched handovers occurred in a split second, but they had devastating results for the athletes, coaches, and disappointed British fans.
The problem of constraints
A relay race is just one way to understand the Theory of Constraints (TOC), which was outlined in the classic 1992 book, The Goal.
If the race is a business, and the goal is to win (increase profits), passing the baton is the constraint.
It’s a factor that prevents the organization from…
