Workshop to highlight the importance of flow
Workshop to highlight the importance of flow
Workshop to highlight the importance of flow
A workshop on flow was organized at the Polytechnic School of Mondragon University. Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag gave an interesting opening lecture on the importance of workflow management; his intervention was based on the theories in his book "Goldratt's Rules of Flow".
The importance of flow management was then addressed. The keys corresponding to the contexts were analyzed. To do so, we had Laurent Vigouroux and Aitor Lizarralde, from B2Wise, who spoke to us about the Demand Drive model and explained several practical cases.
Likewise, Mondragon University professors Unai Apaolaza and Javi Guallar addressed the problems related to the field of projects, explaining the approaches, methods and related cases of interest..
Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag is the author of the book "Goldratt's Rules of Flow", in which she analyses the main aspects of management. Before starting the day, the professor of the Polytechnic School of Mondragon University, Unai Apaolaza, met with her and conducted an interview:
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
The Theory of Constraints, developed by your father, Eliyahu M. Goldratt, emerged in the 1980s with the publication of the best- seller The Goal. Since then, it has continued to evolve and expand into various fields. Despite the time that has passed, its principles and ideas remain highly relevant. How can this be explained in today's context, where so many things quickly become obsolete?
EG- My father was a scientist, a physicist. He developed the Theory of Constraints the same way that researchers in the accurate sciences develop their body of knowledge. He analyzed the organizational reality, made hypotheses and thoroughly tested their validity. Along decades of inquiry, through numerous implementations in organizations around the world, he was able to develop a holistic theory that offers powerful solutions to various critical challenges organizations face. Thus, there is no wonder that TOC is as relevant today as it was years ago.
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants is an article your father wrote on the 25th anniversary of The Goal. The article discusses the origins of focusing on accelerating flow to improve operational performance, and he explicitly recognizes the contributions of pioneers like Ford and Ohno. Do you think he has received the recognition that reflects the scale of his contributions?
EG- The Goal has been recognized by the Times as one of the 25 most influential management books that impacted the way managers think. It is a mandatory reading in many organizations. It has been on Amazon’s bestseller list since Amazon.com started and is frequently #1 in various management books categories. This book continues to be read by students and managers around the world even though it was written 40 years ago. Wouldn’t you say it attests to the recognition that Eliyahu Goldratt received and still receiving worldwide?
How do you experience the responsibility of upholding such a legacy?
EG- Before my father passed away, he asked me to be in charge of his intellectual property and copyrights. That is a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. I’m managing his books with 40 publishers around the world which is actually how our paths crossed. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again, Unai Apaolaza and Javier Guallar Perez for volunteering to review the renewed translations of my father’s books, The Goal and Critical Chain, to Castilian Spanish that are now being published by Profit.
Thank you for allowing us to be part of the project to bring your father’s works to a new audience. It is an honor to preserve and share his legacy, especially through foundational texts like The Goal and Critical Chain. His insights are truly indispensable in this field.
EG- The Theory of Constraints is very well known in production but less so in projects. My father wrote about his early findings in project management in 1997 in his book Critical Chain as he was still developing his insights in this field. He was getting ready to write his next book about it, but he didn’t make it. He passed away in 2011. And so only his close circle of people was aware of his recent developments in project management. After a decade of looking for the right person to write this book for him, I realized it should be me.
Rules of Flow
You decided to continue your father’s work with “Goldratt’s rules of flow”, a book that bears many similarities to previous novels (it even shares some characters). True to the style of earlier TOC books, it is not a project management treatise but a novel where the concepts unfold through the narrative. However, there are also differences. Was this intentional, or does it simply reflect your personal style as an author?
EG- I was part of My father’s inner circle, helping him to write his books and I also had the honor of being the coauthor of his life philosophy book The Choice, so I know how to write in his preferred style which is a business novel. The new book Goldratt’s Rules of Flow is his book, his rules of flow. My father kept saying that when the right time comes, he will either rewrite Critical Chain or write a separate book. Not knowing what his decision would be, I decided to write the book as a sequel to Critical Chain. The story of the same professor teaching the same course 10 years later. The book is somewhat different, to reflect not only my personal style but also today’s readers’ preference for shorter, fast paste books.
When reading Goldratt’s rules of flow, it is inevitable to draw comparisons with Critical Chain. In many ways, Rules of Flow feels like a more mature and evolved version of Critical Chain. New concepts such as triage and the full kit emerge, while the role of buffers seems diminished; buffers do not appear until the end of the book, and there is no mention of feeding or resource buffers. In the prologue, you even state that “... he felt he wasn’t done yet uncovering the rules of flow and ensuring that applying them would, in fact, shorten lead times to such an extent that he no longer needed to recommend using buffers”. This represents a significant shift, doesn’t it?
EG- “Goldratt’s rules of flow” was written to show the whole solution. For someone who is interested to learn about the TOC approach to project management this should be their first book. I wrote about buffer management just enough to show how highly important buffers are, and where they fit in the big picture. The interested reader who would like to learn more, can go back and read Critical Chain.
In a time when AI seems to dominate the future and technology underpins nearly every aspect of operations, it is notable that your book makes no reference to software as a necessary element. Was this omission deliberate?
EG- The short answer is, yes. But I think the long answer is more interesting: Eliyahu Goldratt started his career in the early 1980s by opening a software company. Creative Output was developing MRP software for scheduling production. He was in charge of sales and integration while others took care of writing the code. In his ongoing visits to factories, he soon came to an amazing realization: the software itself cannot get the results on its own. It has to be accompanied by properly managing the production floor. He started developing guidelines to help managers identify the bottlenecks and manage them and spent a considerable amount of time persuading managers to follow them and testing the results. To his surprise, he soon found out that companies who were following his guidelines and properly managed the constraints, were getting great results even if they didn’t use the software he sold them. While companies who were integrating the software without following his guidelines didn’t get much improvement. That realization was eye opening for him. It was the point when he decided to concentrate on the management side rather than the software. AI may eventually prove it wrong; time will tell. For the time being my father’s conclusion is still valid: Software is very important. Period. But without properly managing the operation, it won’t get us far.
Triage is a concept borrowed from the medical field. You emphasize the importance of prioritization at various levels: multi- project, single- project, and task. In emergency situations, prioritization seems logical and straightforward. However, in the business world, decision- making is more complex, with different hierarchies, visions, objectives, and often conflicting priorities. Why is it so difficult to implement something so seemingly logical in a professional context? What are organizations failing to understand or apply correctly? How can this be improved?
EG- Organizations are often managed with silos between departments. Every part of the organization performs as a standalone unit without considering the other parts. Managers in all levels prioritize according to what makes sense to their area of responsibility rather than look at the whole picture. These local optimum considerations are at the heart of the chaos. We have to move from local optimum to global optimum. All decisions, measurements, priorities etc. need to be based on the global optimum of the organization.
How can universities help companies in this regard, starting from the current situation?
EG- The universities can and should play a major role in improving the way organizations are managed. Starting from helping students to acquire the knowledge and develop the intuition to think in terms of global optimum. Student also need to learn to think in terms of flow. Every person who reads Goldratt’s Rules of Flow says it is common sense. But common sense does not necessarily mean intuitive. It is the responsibility of the universities to help develop this type of intuition every manager should have.
Based on your personal experience, what advice would you give to a student finishing their studies with basic knowledge of TOC and preparing to enter the workforce?
EG- My recommendation to students is the same as my father’s recommendation to every manager: keep learning and use common sense. Don’t simply accept any trend just because everyone else is talking about it. Know what your goal is and get after it.
Watch the video summary of the day.