Status:: #🌱 Tags:: #💡 Links:: [[Systems thinking]] [[Parkinson's Law]] [[Productivity MOC]] ___ # Theory of constraints The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a management paradigm that views any manageable system as being limited in achieving more of its goals by a very small number of constraints. It was developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt and introduced in his 1984 book "The Goal". This theory is used widely in operations management and business strategy, but its principles can be applied in various fields including manufacturing, project management, and supply chain logistics. The principle idea is that any given system must at all times have one bottleneck that *constrains* the system from operating any more effectively. If this bottleneck is relieved, the system can improve and a new constraint will form allowing you to repeat the process ad infinitum. ### The crucial idea of the theory is by constraining we can liberate ourselves to do more. For example, most people believe the reason they can't get everything they want done is because they don't have enough time. In some cases, this might be true but through the lens of the theory of constraint, what's the true constraint on your productivity? Time or focus? **4 hours of focused work is better than 8 hours of distracted work.** By constraining your work hours down to 4 instead of 8, and sticking to it, you can identify the real constraint in the system; your time, your focus, or something else. Apply this to anything in life.