Chapter 3. TOC in Software Production

TOC's Five Basic Steps

The Theory of Constraints can be explained with a simple five-step process that needs little explanation.

  1. Identify the System Constraint.
  2. Decide how best to exploit the System Constraint.
  3. Subordinate everything else to the decision in step 2.
  4. Elevate the Constraint.
  5. If steps 1 through 4 have created a new constraint, return to step 2.

TOC is founded on the notion that a value chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The conjecture is that there is only one weakest link at any given time. This weakest link is known as the constraint. In a process or system that takes input and produces output under some control mechanism, the constraint is described as the capacity constrained ...

Get Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.