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You are here: Home / Archives for Theory of Constraints

Mar 22 2018

Systemic Tools against Bias for Good Decisions about Risk

Systemic Tools against Bias for Good Decisions about Risk

Our brains really struggle to be rational. This is a big problem when it comes to management and making decisions, especially decisions about risk. What can we do about it? The improbability of probability The human mind is unable to process probability. It’s a scientific fact proved over the last 20 years in a slew of publications (and […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: bias, Decision making, negative branch reservation, risk, statistical process control, Thinking Process Tools

Mar 20 2018

Exploit the Constraint, Not Your People (Are you listening, Amazon?)

Exploit the Constraint, Not Your People (Are you listening, Amazon?)

An article in ‘Business Insider’ this month revisits what it’s like to work at Amazon. While there may have been some improvement since the 2015 NYT article that referred to a bruising culture and people crying at their desks, there still seems to be evidence of exploitation. There is only one kind of exploitation in organizations […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: amazon, burnout, constraint, exploit, jeff bezos, resource optimization

Mar 15 2018

Managing Risk through a Leverage Point (constraint) – A Systems View

Managing Risk through a Leverage Point (constraint) – A Systems View

In our last post Understanding Uncertainty and Systemic Risk in Organizations we explained how management must involve the management of variation. Every single process, relationship and communication in our organization, whether we are aware of it or not, is affected by variation. If we ignore variation then we are not managing, and if we are not […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: constraint, leverage point, network of projects, risk management, system-wide risk, systemic risk

Mar 13 2018

Understanding Uncertainty and Systemic Risk in Organizations

Understanding Uncertainty and  Systemic Risk in Organizations

If we could predict the outcome of everything we do with mathematical certainty, then our lives would be much simpler. In reality, we exist within a complex web of interdependencies and such certainty is not possible. Hence, we live with uncertainty and its inevitable companion: risk. We perceive a risk any time we feel that […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: process management, risk, risk management, systemic risk, theory of constraints, uncertainty, variation

Mar 07 2018

Managing Risk and Fear

Managing Risk and Fear

No one can deny that risk exists. It’s the potential to lose something of value. It would be irresponsible to ignore it. The question becomes, what kind of decisional practice and behaviors are operationally and economically effective when it comes to risk in organizations? Operating from fear An article in Mashable about Google+ is a […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: Decision making, risk management, systemic management, Thinking Process Tools

Feb 22 2018

Achieving Laser Focus in a Meeting the Systemic Way

Achieving Laser Focus in a Meeting the Systemic Way

I recently participated in a meeting for an innovative digital project where speed is now of the essence. We were able to surface assumptions that saved us endless conversations, weeks of delay and false starts based on misunderstandings. In that meeting I saw in action, yet again, the power of a Thinking Process Tool from the […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: laser focus, Meetings, Prerequisite Tree, systemic tools, Thinking Process Tools

Feb 20 2018

The Leaders We Need for Flatter Organizations

The Leaders We Need for Flatter Organizations

A leader is someone who connects with something deep inside you and brings out the leader in all of us. Ghandi, Churchill, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, these are some of the great leaders of our times. They inspired people to go beyond what they thought they were capable of to achieve something momentous for […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: Deming, Goldratt, leadership, Lubavitcher Rebbe, management, networks

Feb 16 2018

Empowerment – Making it Work Operationally

Empowerment – Making it Work Operationally

If you look up “empowerment” on Google there are over 100 million items. So what do we mean by empowerment and why is it such a tricky matter? What tools can we use to make sure empowerment is done more effectively at an operational level? In any organization, things need to get done and people […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: conflict cloud, empowerment, leadership, thinking process, Transition Tree

Feb 09 2018

How to Eliminate Toxic Beliefs that Choke Organizations

How to Eliminate Toxic Beliefs that Choke Organizations

An excellent article entitled ‘5 Toxic Beliefs that Ruin Careers‘ hits on a key issue in life and business, namely how our perceptions affect the way we think and act. In this post, we look at how the Decalogue Methodology can address toxic beliefs. Why do some succeed where others fail in the same circumstances? […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: assumptions, limiting beliefs, strategy, Thinking Process Tools, toxic beliefs

Feb 07 2018

Tackling our Cognitive Constraints to Get to Breakthrough

A major stumbling block to growth for organizations lies in their cognitive constraints. In other words, there are mental models, or, more simply, limiting beliefs that prevent us from seeing solutions. In the Decalogue approach, we have worked over the last 20 years with hundreds of top and middle managers to build custom made implementations […]

Written by angela montgomery · Categorized: Systems Thinking, systems view of the world, Theory of Constraints · Tagged: breakthrough, cognitive constraint, core conflict, innovation, Thinking Process Tools

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Recent Posts

  • Managing as a Whole System – A New Learning Path April 24, 2018
  • Creativity, Reliability and Predictability – Are They at Odds? April 19, 2018
  • Four Fundamental Knowledge Areas for Leaders and Managers Today April 17, 2018
  • The Science of Why Extra Effort Does Not Equal Extra Productivity in an Organization April 10, 2018
  • Fixing Strategy Failure – a Systems View April 5, 2018
  • From Silos to System: How to Build an Organization Fit for Complexity April 3, 2018
  • 3 Major Symptoms that Your Organization Has Silo Sickness March 28, 2018
  • The Silo Peril and Breaking Down Barriers March 27, 2018
  • Systemic Tools against Bias for Good Decisions about Risk March 22, 2018
  • Exploit the Constraint, Not Your People (Are you listening, Amazon?) March 20, 2018
  • Managing Risk through a Leverage Point (constraint) – A Systems View March 15, 2018
  • Understanding Uncertainty and Systemic Risk in Organizations March 13, 2018
  • Managing Risk and Fear March 7, 2018
  • Design and Manage Your Organization as a Whole System or Underperform March 6, 2018
  • The Quality Conundrum and the Heritage of W. Edwards Deming March 5, 2018

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  • Managing as a Whole System – A New Learning Path April 24, 2018
  • Creativity, Reliability and Predictability – Are They at Odds? April 19, 2018
  • Four Fundamental Knowledge Areas for Leaders and Managers Today April 17, 2018
  • The Science of Why Extra Effort Does Not Equal Extra Productivity in an Organization April 10, 2018
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