Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Prioritize blocking decisions by cost of delay…
For decisions blocking three or more downstream dependencies, calculate cost of delay by multiplying the decision's delay duration by the combined capacity waiting idle, then prioritize decisions by this metric rather than by perceived importance.
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.
Four elements only for constraint displays
Display bottleneck metrics using only four elements—constraint name, current value, target value, and trend direction—eliminating all decoration to maximize signal-to-noise ratio.
Start every standup with the constraint metric — before…
Begin every team standup with the current constraint metric before individual updates to keep collective attention focused on the binding bottleneck.
Kanban column with a growing queue IS the bottleneck — no…
When cards accumulate in one column of a kanban board creating a visible queue, treat that column as the current bottleneck without requiring separate cycle time analysis.
Place 20% time buffers around your constraint step…
Add 20% time buffers around constraint activities that fail or degrade most frequently under pressure, rather than distributing slack evenly across all workflow steps.
Keep one completed output in reserve after the constraint…
Maintain one completed output in reserve after your constraint step (stock buffer) to decouple production cadence from delivery cadence when the constraint step has high variability.
Have one backup for your constraint step at 80% quality…
Document one alternative method or backup person who can execute your constraint step at 80% quality to serve as capacity buffer during disruptions, rather than pursuing redundancy everywhere.
When improvement stalls despite effort, the bottleneck…
When throughput improvement stalls despite continued effort at the current constraint location, immediately re-run constraint identification to detect whether the bottleneck has migrated.
Exploit the constraint fully before investing in expanding…
Before investing in constraint elevation, verify that constraint capacity is being used at 100% for highest-value work rather than dissipated across low-priority tasks.
Same constraint for three weeks straight = structural…
When the same operational constraint appears in three consecutive weekly reviews, treat it as a structural issue requiring architectural change rather than tactical adjustment, escalating it from the weekly action item to a dedicated project.
The critical path is your minimum duration — no amount…
Identify the critical path (longest chain of dependent tasks) as the minimum project duration, recognizing that no amount of parallelization or additional resources can compress completion time below this constraint.