── ── Mental model
Theory of Constraints
Theory of Constraints (TOC) — Eliyahu Goldratt, 1984: throughput of any multi-step system is determined by its single bottleneck. Improving any other step produces no system-level gain. The Five Focusing Steps (Identify → Exploit → Subordinate → Elevate → Repeat) are the operational discipline.
Run Theory of Constraints on a real problem
Bring something you're actually deciding — free, in the browser.
How it works
Step 1 — Identify: map all steps with capacity; find where WIP accumulates — that's the constraint. Step 2 — Exploit: max output from the constraint with no new investment (eliminate idle time, defects, distractions at that step). Step 3 — Subordinate: pace all other steps to the constraint's rate. Upstream: don't over-produce. Downstream: don't block. Retire local efficiency metrics that incentivize over-production. Step 4 — Elevate: if still binding after Steps 2-3, add capacity at the constraint (equipment, people, redesign). Highest ROI investment in the system. Step 5 — Repeat: bottleneck has moved. Return to Step 1.
When to use it
- user says 'everyone is working hard but results are flat', 'where is our bottleneck', 'we keep adding capacity but throughput doesn't improve', 'backlog piling up at one stage', 'Goldratt / TOC / Five Focusing Steps', or is designing a process-improvement initiative and wants to know where to invest
When not to use it
When the decision is routine and reversible, applying a formal method costs more than it returns.
Worked example
The AI Buildout's True Constraint — Advanced Packaging and Power (2024–2026)
During the 2023–2026 AI capital-expenditure boom, the public narrative treated GPU design as the scarce resource: whoever had the best chip architecture would win. Nvidia's data-center revenue and market capitalization exploded on that story — the company crossed a $1 trillion market cap in 2023 and, in June 2024, briefly became the most valuable company in the world, above Microsoft and Apple. But a company can design a chip in a way that far outruns its ability to ship the finished accelerators and to power…
Install this skill (free, MIT)
npx skills add deciqAI/knowledge-skillsUseful? Star the repo — stars help other builders find it.
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