Use the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes

Tools for Sufficient Cause and Necessary Condition Critical Thinking

Feb 4, 2009 Roger Lever

Dr Eliyahu Goldratt developed Theory of Constraints (TOC) and originated thinking processes and specific critical thinking tools to help solve implementation problems.

The two critical thinking processes are Sufficient Cause and Necessary Condition. Sufficient Cause is focused on finding causes of effects or effect of causes and Necessary Condition is about the requirements or the things that must or must not exist to achieve a goal. (See Think Better Using Critical Thinking Processes for more information.) These two processes have specific supporting tools.

Sufficient Cause Critical Thinking Tools

The three Sufficient Cause critical thinking tools to think better are:

• Current Reality Tree - a tool to find the root or common cause for many effects of the AS-IS situation. To find the core problem. In addition it can be used to identify competencies, strengths or simply why change is needed
• Future Reality Tree - a tool to define the TO-BE picture clearly and succinctly
• Transition Tree - a tool to create action plans to move from AS-IS to the TO-BE state

Each tree is a diagram composed of related entities, where each entity is simply a statement that is related to another starting from a root cause or action and spreading out into a cause and effect "tree".

Current Reality Tree

The Current Reality Tree is composed of six steps for clear thinking:

1. Determine the scope of the analysis
2. List between 5 and 10 pertinent entities
3. Diagram the cause and effect relationships between the entities
4. Review and revise for clarity and completeness
5. Apply the "so what" test
6. Identify the core or root causes

Future Reality Tree

The Future Reality Tree has three steps:

1. Start with the idea or goal and list the pros and cons
2. Describe the cause and effect relationships of the pros and cons and use Sufficient Cause critical thinking to get to clarity and completeness and seek to avoid or block the cons
3. Enhance the solution by predicting additional effects and add reinforcing loops

Transition Tree

The Transition Tree starts by identifying objectives and actions, entities of current situation, future entities based on effects of actions, current and future conditions. Then the process begins:

1. Establish the scope of the Transition Tree
2. Use Sufficient Cause thinking, link initial actions to objectives and develop the tree
3. Seek and block undesirable effects
4. Implement the plan

Necessary Condition Critical Thinking Tools

The two Necessary Condition tools to think better are:

• Evaporating Cloud - is for conflict resolution and is composed of identifying the five key relationships and then solving just one will evaporate the cloud
• Prerequisite Tree - identify barriers and ways to remove them

Evaporating Cloud

The key relationships are drawn with arrows:

1. Mutually exclusive entities such as order earlier or order later each has an arrow to its condition
2. Necessary condition for each entity, such as give vendors enough time or wait until we have all of the information. Each condition has an arrow to the objective
3. Common objective such as have the right materials when we need them

The process is:

• Articulate the problem [1] and diagram the cloud
• For each arrow, discover assumptions and identify potential solutions
• Choose an action to implement the solution and think through consequ

Prerequisite Tree

There are three key entities for the Prerequisite Tree: objective, intermediate objective and obstacle. The key process is:

• Define the purpose of the tree
• List the obstacles and intermediate objectives that overcome the obstacles
• Map the implementation order of the intermediate objectives
• Implement

Use Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes

These critical thinking tools have much wider application and can be useful in both business and personal life. Try them and see. For more information about TOC see Theory of Constraints or a useful resource is Thinking for a Change: Putting the TOC Thinking Processes to Use by Lisa J. Scheinkopf. ISBN: 1-57444-101-9.

The copyright of the article Use the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes in Business Management is owned by Roger Lever. Permission to republish Use the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Critical Thinking Processes

Theory of Constraints TOC

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