We entrepreneurs, especially those in the manufacturing segment, are prone to confuse busy with productive, and we seem to have a hard time learning to distinguish between the two, even after we recognize that they are distinctly different things.
For me, the turning point was the first time I heard Eli Goldratt classify many if not most of our ”Improvements” as ”Phantom Improvements”. Any local improvement that does not improve the global output is by definition a phantom improvement, which seems to confuse many of us (if we speed up one or more processes, then those local time savings should translate into global improvement!).
Until we learn to factor in our Constraint, we will continue to believe that local improvements add up to global improvements, and we can ultimately surround ourselves with phantom improvements that can suck the life-blood (Cash) out of our businesses (investing our LIMITED resources improving the wrong thing or things can break a good company). If our processes include dependent events, and we want to improve, step one is ALWAYS ”Identify the Constraint”.
Is it possible that your constraint is your inability to identify your constraint? Not knowing where to focus your attention is the absolute worst kind of distraction (which brings to mind a plant full of headless chickens running around), which brings us back to step one, IDENTIFY YOUR CONSTRAINT. Make it your mission to identify your constraint, or learn how to identify your constraint. If you need help, I know of no better tool to help zero in on your Constraint than the Custom Cabinet Planner app and the Production Schedule which shows the quantity and dollar value for all the Rooms that make up your Projects in any of the KANBAN Board columns that represent your sequence of events.
