Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Patterns Exist in Hierarchical Logical Levels
Patterns exist in hierarchical levels across multiple scales, with higher-order patterns (patterns of patterns) representing different logical types than first-order patterns and requiring meta-level cognitive observation to detect, forming causal chains where deeper structures generate surface events.
If an approval step changed nothing in 20 instances…
When approval steps in a process have produced zero changes in the last twenty instances, eliminate the approval gate as pure waste regardless of its historical rationale.
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.
Bottleneck journal
Record bottleneck journal entries in under two minutes using six fields only (date, constraint name, severity 1-5, type, intervention, result) to maintain practice sustainability.
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.
Keep commitments at 70-85% of capacity — the 15-30% slack…
Maintain commitment-to-capacity ratio between 0.70 and 0.85 to preserve system stability, keeping 15-30% of capacity uncommitted as structural buffer for variance absorption.
Normal daily capacity variation is not a problem — only…
Treat common-cause capacity variation (daily fluctuations within your normal 2-5 hour range) as system-inherent rather than problems requiring intervention; investigate and respond only to special-cause variation (events falling outside normal range).
A ratio above 1.0 is mathematical proof of failure — no…
Maintain a commitment-to-capacity ratio below 0.85 to accommodate variance, treating any ratio above 1.0 as mathematical proof that some commitments will fail regardless of willpower or prioritization.
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.
When deferred maintenance costs 3x more to fix later…
When a deferred maintenance task's recovery cost exceeds its immediate execution cost by 3x or more, prioritize it above tasks with lower cost multiplication ratios.
Track operational debt explicitly — what was deferred…
Maintain an operational debt register that records what was deferred, when, why, and the estimated cost of continued deferral, reviewing it during weekly rhythms to distinguish strategic from accidental debt.
Run simplified systems for two full cycles before…
Validate simplified systems by running them for at least two full cycles before declaring success, as one cycle cannot distinguish between successful simplification and lucky conditions.
When debt grows despite repayment, simplify the system…
When a system's operational debt register grows despite consistent repayment, shift from maintenance to simplification rather than increasing maintenance effort.
Eliminate first, simplify second, automate last — never…
Follow the automation hierarchy of eliminate-simplify-automate in strict order, because automating waste entrenches it and automating complexity makes it brittle.
Automate only fully-specifiable tasks — if it needs…
Automate only tasks where the rule can be stated completely (fixed rule, known inputs, predictable outputs) and execution requires no judgment about exceptions or novel cases.
Track every automation in a registry — function, tool…
Maintain an automation registry listing each automation's function, tool, last verification date, failure indicators, and review cadence to prevent automation debt accumulation.