Put your bottleneck metric on a sticky note you cannot…

Make your current bottleneck metric physically visible in a location you cannot minimize or avoid (sticky note on monitor, whiteboard in workspace) and update it daily rather than relying on digital dashboards.

When This Fires

After identifying your current system constraint or bottleneck
When digital dashboards exist but aren't driving behavior change
During any continuous improvement effort where a key metric needs daily attention
When you or your team consistently forget what the current constraint is

Common Failure Mode

Creating a beautiful dashboard and expecting it to drive behavior. The dashboard gets bookmarked, forgotten, and checked biweekly at best. Physical visibility works because it's involuntary — the sticky note on your monitor doesn't require you to remember to check it. It's just there, in your face, every time you look at your screen.

The Protocol

(1) Identify your current binding constraint and its key metric (e.g., "PR review queue: 12 items, target: <5"). (2) Write it on a sticky note or index card. (3) Place it where you cannot avoid seeing it — on your monitor, next to your keyboard, on the wall you face. (4) Update the number daily. The physical act of writing the new number takes 10 seconds and produces 10 hours of ambient constraint awareness. (5) When the constraint migrates (it will), update the card to the new constraint.