This document discusses various systems thinking concepts including the five focusing steps of the Theory of Constraints for managing constraints in systems. It provides an overview of using cumulative flow diagrams to visualize work flow and identify constraints, then applying the five steps which are to identify the constraint, exploit it, subordinate other work to it, elevate the constraint, and repeat the process. It also discusses using these concepts to improve flow for software delivery processes.

1. The Beer Game
Tom Looy

2. Using the Five Focusing Steps
of the Theory of Constraints
for Incremental and Radical System Changes
DemingGoldratt

3. Truth in Advertising

4. We know this…but we still keep doing it.

6. Larman's Laws of Organizational Behavior
1. Organizations are implicitly optimized to avoid
changing the status quo middle- and first-level
manager and “specialist” positions & power structures.
2. As a corollary to (1), any change initiative will be
reduced to redefining or overloading the new
terminology to mean basically the same as status quo.
3. As a corollary to (1), any change initiative will be
derided as “purist”, “theoretical”, “revolutionary”,
"religion", and “needing pragmatic customization for
local concerns” -- which deflects from addressing
weaknesses and manager/specialist status quo.

7. “The Beer Game”

8. S Y S T E MS Y S T E M
S Y S T E M
An Appreciation For The
“A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently
organized in a way that achieves something.”
(Thinking in Systems, Donella H Meadows)
Input Output

10. S Y S T E M
S Y S T E M
Focus here
Interconnected Set of Elements in a
“A system is a product of the interaction of its parts and
never the sum of its parts.”
Dr. Russell Ackoff

11. S Y S T E M
Vision Dev QA Ops
Systems Thinking In a Software Delivery
Product Owners
on the team
QA on the team
DevOps (The
Phoenix Project)
“Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.”
Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face conversation.
Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto
“…a collaborative working relationship between Development and IT Operations…”
11 Things to Know About DevOps, Gene Kim
Requirements
Documents
Test Plans
Release
Notes

12. 1. Identify
2. Exploit
3. Subordinate
4. Elevate
5. Repeat
The Five Focusing Steps of The Theory of Constraints

13. S Y S T E M
Why worry about Constraints?
TS
The Constraint in the system
determines the throughput
of the system.
Optimizing anywhere other than
the constraint will not increase the
throughput of the system.

14. S Y S E M
Step 1 – Identify the Constraint
TS

15. 1. Identify
2. Exploit
3. Subordinate
4. Elevate
5. Repeat
The Five Focusing Steps of The Theory of Constraints

16. What does it mean to
“Exploit the Constraint”?
• Exploit its time
– Don’t let the constraint in your system be idle.
– The Constraint is the only thing in the system where we want to have
100% utilization.
• Exploit its capability
– Only have the constraint do what only the constraint can do.
• Design your system for the ‘Flow of Work’ through your constraint

17. 1. Identify
2. Exploit
3. Subordinate
4. Elevate
5. Repeat
The Five Focusing Steps of The Theory of Constraints

18. The Constraint 100% utilized
Everything else < 100% utilized

19. 1.Inventory (work queues)
2.Unplanned Work
3. Invisible Work
4. Variance in Work
Four problems when you
don’t subordinate to the Constraint:

20. Our Means:
An inside - out view of a project
1) An overview of Agile, Lean and Theory of Constraints
2)
3)
1. Run the
animated
Agile Story
Card Wall
1. Examine
‘what if’
scenarios
using Excel

21. Release small batch sizes into the system
Keep WIP (Work In Progress) down
Short cycle time of stories
Lean Principles on the Agile Wall

22. The Drum is the constraint –
it sets the pace for work all
work done in the system.
The Buffer protects
the Drum from being
starved for work.
The Rope controls the release of work
into the system by tying it to the constraint.
ToC’s “Drum-Buffer-Rope”

23. Other Things of Interest on This Agile Wall
Velocity is based on
Story Cards, not
Story Points.
Iteration 9 is included in
the plan as a contingency.
Each team’s capacity (and size)
was determined through several
previous Iterations of adapting.

24. “The Beer Game”

25. Cumulative Flow Diagram
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Original Plan
Dev
Web Dev
QA
Done

26. Cumulative Flow Diagram
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Beer Game Scenario
Dev
Web Dev
QA
Done

27. Cumulative Flow Diagram
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Apply the ToC 'Rope' (Limit the Work Released to the New Contraint)
Dev
Web Dev
QA
Done

28. Where Would You Elevate?

29. Cumulative Flow Diagram
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Elevate the Constraint - QA
Dev
Web Dev
QA
Done

30. Explain Brooks’s Law using the Five Focusing Steps.

31. What Makes Constraint Management
Complicated in Scrum?
• We don’t work on like units
• The constraint moves almost daily
• What should we do about it?
– Visualize your work
– Orient your standup around constraint management
– Swarm on the constraint
– Have full time Scrum Masters on your team
– Train Scrum Masters to be system thinkers

32. Thank you
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