Mastering Leadership Alignment

Executing on the Theory of Constraints

The Theory of Constraints says that in any complex work system, the value throughput of that work system is governed by a single primary bottleneck, or constraint, and that the primary constraint is most often both invisible and counter-intuitive.

The constraints are usually invisible governors. The whole system can only function as well as its worst constraint(s), what Jack Stack, pioneering author of classic Great Game of Business, calls the key vulnerabilities, or what is sometimes called the weakest link in the chain. Those constraints can only be found through a systematic process of discovery—applying the scientific method to test and validate any assumptions about what are the greatest constraints, ...