To be, or not to be a Systemologist

When God gave Moses the law, he was providing a “System” that would enable the Hebrew people to cooperate so they could live and trade in community. One of the really basic systems was how the tabernacle would be moved each time they set out for a new location, using loops, poles, and specific people…

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Entrepreneurs’ Biggest Problem

Being a fan/advocate for Theory of Constraints Thinking, I find Mike Michalowicz’s statement to be very accurate, especially when you subscribe to the thinking process that says the “Constraint” is the ONE THING that keeps a company from reaching its GOAL. Not knowing your Constraint is a BIG PROBLEM. The converse is knowing where your…

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Automation is Delegation

Automation is nothing more than delegating things to technology, and like delegating something to a person, we need to first determine if we should delegate the task at all (maybe we should eliminate it). That’s a framework worth remembering.

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Rinse and Repeat – Step 11 of 11

In the last OneThingLean Blog post, we talked about Step 4, or Elevate the Constraint, Today we will look at the last step in this 5 step process, Rinse and Repeat. For context, lets review our Five Steps one more time. Identify the Constraint Exploit the Constraint Subordinate every other decision to the Constraint Elevate…

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Subordination Consternation – Part 9 of 11

In the last OneThingLean Blog post, we talked about Step 2, or Exploiting the Constraint. Today we will look at step 3, Subordinate every other decision to the Constraint. For context, lets review our Five Steps one more time (I may repeat myself often as it relates to these 5 steps). Identify the Constraint Exploit the…

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Can Exploitation ever be a Good Thing? – Part 8 of 11

In the last OneThingLean Blog post, we talked about Step ZERO, or determining our Goal. Having already covered the first of the five step process in the two articles prior, finding or identifying the constraint, today we will look at step 2, Exploit the Constraint. For context, lets review our Five Steps one more time…

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I Found Waldo – Part 6 of 11

Blogging is hard, and starting a blog post is the hardest of things, so here I go (I have snoozed my notification to write this blog post for two weeks now). In my defense, I have been extraordinarily busy as I and the team I work with are right in the middle of launching a…

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Fixing One Thing Can Fix A Lot Of Things – Part 4 of 11

OneThingLean Image

In my last One Thingology Blog post, we talked about a couple different kinds of constraints. Physical Constraints and Policy Constraints. Now it’s time to look at the implications of breaking a constraint. Remember my original assertion that “One Thing Can Change Everything”? Well, let’s talk about the implications of breaking my delivery policy constraint.…

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What is a Constraint? – Part 3 of 11

Typewriter Image

In my last OneThingology blog post, I asked this question: What if there was One Thing responsible for the majority of the bad things in your life and/or business? Would you see it? Would you recognize it even if it did not go boom, or have a flashing red light on top of it?  I…

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