NOTE: In order to understand this series completely, we strongly advise that you start with reading Part 1. See the links to Part 1 and 2 at the bottom of the post. Thank you.
Previously in this series we have covered:
If, as we have suggested, the goal or purpose of a for-profit enterprise is to make money, and a POOGI would suggest that the goal is “to make more money tomorrow than we are making today,” then we have a very simply global metric by which to measure the performance of the “system”—the enterprise. That global metric is “profit.”
In the terms we stated in earlier portions of this series, profit can be calculated as follows:
P = T – OE
where P = Profit, T = Throughput and OE = Operating Expenses
By now, we should understand what our “system” is (our enterprise, taken as a whole) and what the goal or purpose of our system is. We also know how to measure the system’s effectiveness in achieving our goal.
Before we can build a better roadmap to success for our system, we really need to understand where we are. We need to comprehend our present situation.
At this point, the numbers are far less important than understanding how our system really operates and to get a clear grasp of just how it operates, we need to begin unlocking the “tribal knowledge” in our organization. We need to find out what our people can tell us about cause-and-effect relationships as goods and services flow through our supply chain (our extended system) and our system—our organization—on the way to producing Throughput.
But we need a tool—a method—by which to document these cause-and-effect relationships so that we can read them, reread them, discuss them and agree upon them.
Eliyahu Goldratt’s Thinking Processes provide just such a method, and it’s simple to understand.
The example in the figure above is pretty intuitive to read. The arrows between the entities are read as “if-then” statements. The ellipse that encircles two or more arrows is read as an “and” join. So, we can read the example (adapted from Thinking for a Change by Lisa J. Scheinkopf) as follows: “If I have the key and I turn the key with sufficient force and it is 20-degrees below zero where my car is parked and my car’s battery does not hold sufficient charge, then the starter does not turn the engine over.” The next segment, reading from bottom to top, reads, “If the starter does not turn the engine over, then my car will not start.”
By the way, where did we get this information about the cause-and-effect relationships in this “system”? We didn’t need to read technical manuals or consult specialists. We were able to gain all this information from “tribal knowledge.” Our friends and family—with experience in this realm—were able to tell us all we needed to know.
Here we have a Current Reality Tree (CRT) for an automobile ignition system where the goal or purpose of the system is to start the car. It’s failure to perform to the goal is stated at the top of the CRT as a NEGATIVE. We call this negative result an Un-Desirable Effect (or UDE, for short).
At the base of the CRT we have four “roots”—those elements with no preceding cause.
This very simple example shows us the focusing power of the CRT approach.
Now that we have identified the potential “root” causes of our system’s failure to achieve its goal—starting the car—we could use brainstorming to attack the root causes.
Now, with this tool in place, we are very focused. While brainstorming might aid us in addressing the “root causes,” the entire CRT keeps us focused on the goal (at the top of the tree) and our need to turn that UDE into a DE (Desired Effect)—starting the car. We aren’t seeking to optimize the “key finding process” or the “parking location process.” We are interested in optimizing the system in reaching the goal—starting the car on demand.
This is just a very, very simple example. Other Thinking Process tools can help us in complex situations. These include:
We hope this discussion has been helpful. Get in touch with us if you would like to see more real-life examples of CRTs in order to understand their impact and application more fully.