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About me
My name is Mauro Bagnato and for over 15 years I have been leading tech organizations.
When I first stepped into leadership, I believed technical expertise was the key to being an effective leader. However, I quickly learned that organizations are living and complex systems and that leading them demands much more than just technical know-how. I believe that curiosity is at the heart of effective leadership. This is what fuels learning and experimentation, both crucial for continuous improvement. This blog aims to explore engineering leadership in all its aspects and to provide insights in a tangible and pragmatic manner. It will also be a space where I will share insights, reflections, and personal takeaways from books, podcasts, and articles that influenced and keep influencing my journey.
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A constraint is a bottleneck that limits the throughput of a system.
Or better, using Dr. Goldratt's definition, a constraint is what
limits a system from achieving higher performance versus its goal
The easiest way to picture a constraint is to think of a chain with a weak link.
At its core the Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a process improvement methodology that aims at increasing the overall system performance by focusing on the biggest constraint.
The TOC is based on the idea that there is only ONE biggest constraint (weakest link in the chain) and addressing it provides the fastest route to significant improvement.
On the contrary, when ignored, the constraint can lead to a system break.
The Theory of Contraints can be split into the following 5 steps:
- Identify the Constraint. What is the weakest link in the chain?
- Exploit the Constraint. Get the most out of the current situation without making additional investment. Usually, there are significant unexplored efficiency gains within the given constraint.
- Subordinate Everything Else. Align the entire system to the max capacity the constraint can handle. Overloading the system and exceeding the constraint’s capacity will break the system.
- Elevate the Constraint. Once the capacity of the system has reached its peak, the only way to increase it further is to permanently remove the constraint.
- Repeat. After breaking a constraint, identify what is now the new biggest constraint and restart the process.
The Theory of Constraints is a very versatile methodology that can be applied across various contexts to improve efficiency and output. From optimizing organizational processes to addressing system scalability issues.
I see the TOC as a powerful mental framework that leads to a disciplined approach to improve complex systems performance.
Over the years, I found it extremely effective to apply the TOC in combination with the VSM (value stream mapping).
While VSM gives a broad view of the entire process helping spotting the biggest constraint, the laser-focused approach of the TOC is a powerful tool for addressing it.
