TOCICO 2011 Conference

Copyright © Eliyahu M. Goldratt 2011

Faster projects◦ 20-30% shorter project duration

More reliable projects◦ From <20% on time to >80% on time

More projects◦ 20-50% more projects with same resources

A look at Realization’s web-site is just one indicator of how much CCPM improves projects

We have an enormous Body of Knowledge

Complete with software, with procedures, and getting phenomenal results.

Can we stand on the shoulders of CCPM? Is there a mistake being made that, once

realized, will lead us to exponentiallybetter results?

What is reality trying to show me?

Go to any project environment even where CCPM was implemented, do you still see bad multitasking?

And it is big… Very big!

Three possibilities1. The difference between reduction of multitasking (that has

been done) and elimination of multitasking is a choopchick◦ Reducing any further will not yield significant improvement

2. The difference between reduction of multitasking (that has been done) and elimination of multitasking is huge, but people resist change and refuse to take action.

3. The difference between reduction of multitasking (that has been done) and elimination of multitasking is huge, but not fully recognized.

Bad Multitasking

↑ Lead Time ↑

↑ Mis-synchronization↑

↓ Capacity ↓ In projects, lead time is the key BMT lengthens the lead time

significantly How have we explained this?

A B C

A B C A B C A B C

Our explanation does not match the IAF 800% improvement of 14 months to 7 weeks!

First on the scene was Tony Rizzo’s Bead Game◦ Powerful illustration of lead time elongation of

projects

More recently, Rob Newbold’s Paper Game◦ Powerful illustration of Touch Time elongation◦ Shows impact on the capacity directly◦ Highlights the impact of BMT on quality◦ Illuminates what we were missing in our

explanation….

Understanding of Bad Multitasking

2011

Prior understanding of Bad Multitasking 2010

Bad Multitasking

↑ Lead Time

↑ Mis-synchronization↑

↓ Capacity ↓

↑ Touch Time ↓ Quality

We were missing

80% of the impact!

A B C

A B C A B C A B C

A B C A B C A B C

TOCICO 2011 Conference

Copyright © Eli Goldratt 2011 Date: June 13-14, 2011

Reversing a vicious cycle must involve at least one

action that is counter intuitive – the opposite of what we are doing now.

Projects Tasks

Legs Full Kit

4 Freezes

The standard S&T trees and most of our work are considering projects which generate throughput directly ◦ The project itself is delivered by the company to its clients◦ Homes, infrastructure, software, etc.

We are familiar with the project freeze in these cases.

In large companies, the majority of the most important projects are internal, and very important to the company’s future. ◦ New Product Development◦ IT

In these cases, the existing Freeze mechanism at the projects level is not enough…

Cost Estimations

Sales Estimations

No consideration is given to other products or the pipeline and the load.

The more products in development the more likely we are to have BMT, which jeopardizes the results (BOTH time, quality, etc.)

20% of Projects Yield 80% of the benefits

80% of Projects Yield 20% of the benefits•And a LOT of

multitasking

May 16, 2011

The story comes to us courtesy of Nike CEO, Mark Parker. He said shortly afterbecoming CEO, he talked to Steve Jobs on the phone.

“Do you have any advice?” Parker asked Jobs. “Well, just one thing,” said Jobs.“Nike makes some of the best products in the world. Products that you lust after. But youalso make a lot of crap. Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.”Parker said Jobs paused and Parker filled the quiet with a chuckle. But Jobs didn’tlaugh. He was serious. “He was absolutely right,” said Parker. “We had to edit.”

Parker used the word ‘edit’ not in a design sense but in the context of makingbusiness decisions. Editing also leads to great product designs and effectivecommunications. According to Steve Jobs, “People think focus means saying yes to thething you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to thehundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proudof the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to1,000 things.”

http://www.omron.co.jp/�

Pareto analysis revealed the 80/20

What about the #1 Project?

The promise date for the #1 project was November

2011.

It was on track to be delivered in November….

2012!

The Omron team decided to view this project as stand alone on CCPM and discovered maybe, it could almost be done on time (with just a 1 week buffer).

When they talked with Marketing & Sales, they found out that the real need was 4 weeks later. It gave them the time they needed.

The project was delivered in November 2011. The work they did on that one project demonstrated to them

clearly how the bad multi-tasking was killing their star projects. That cleared the way. They didn’t have any problem killing other projects.

How many out of their 400+ projects did they kill? They courageously killed 373! Those projects are not frozen, they are dead. They

will not be defrosted. . The most important projects are identified,

and now move quickly toward completion.

Cut Projects

File

Projects Tasks

Legs Full Kit

4 Freezes

Early as Possible• Increases Investment Time• Increases Safety Time

Late as Possible•Reduces Investment Time•Reduces Safety Time

Early Start

Late Start

Traditional View

CC

A

B

C

D

E

BC AE

D

FB

FB

FB

FB

FB

PB

We are aggregating safety with project and feeding buffers. Release according to the buffered leg durations, not earlier.

The impact on bad-multitasking in multi-project environment is sometimes not less than the freeze on the project level.

In large projects, a single step in a PERT

often contains multiple legs.

In large projects environments, we are

underutilizing the leg-level freeze

mechanism.

In large projects environments, bad

multi-tasking is likely to still exist.

Effective management focus requires a limit of 300 tasks in the

PERT.

The Injection is the next Freeze

mechanism

Projects Tasks

Legs Full Kit

4 Freezes

Even if a leg has been released by the software’s schedule, does it mean that the department must start working on it?

This level of freeze is necessary only in the departments that still suffer from bad-multitasking (and there are often quite a few).

How to check?

Two questions1. Roughly, how much time does it take to complete

a task in the department? 2. Per key person in the department, how many

times a month is he forced to stop what he is doing and to switch to another, urgent task?

According to the two answers one can tell how often workers are forced to multitask.

Verify the resource manager has the list of tasks that the department has to do.

Inform the resource manager that he MUST freeze at least 25% of the tasks under his control◦ He is free to choose which of the tasks to freeze

Notify that the freeze will be checked every day, stressing that anyone found working on one of the “frozen” tasks ......!

The results are obvious very quickly ◦ The managers will likely increase the number of tasks frozen

when they see the increase in flow of completed tasks increase. The number of tasks completed may double.

Month Total Projects

No. projects frozen

No. Projects Completed REMARKS

JUN-10 206 NIL 3

Prior to VVJUL-10 203 NIL 8AUG-10 195 NIL 6SEP-10 189 NIL 3OCT-10 186 NIL 10

Freezing TasksNOV-10 176 NIL 16

Projects Tasks

Legs Full Kit

4 Freezes

How much does not having the full kit add to multitasking?

A task is available for a

resource.

Enough elements are available to start the task, but not enough

to finish the task.

Resource works on the task until a

missing element prevents further

progress.

Resource does nothing until the missing element

arrives.

Resource starts a different task.

Which is the more likely effect?

Multitasking Spiral

Study the Steps in the Projects S&T where Bad Multitasking and the Freeze Mechanisms are described. Given our expanded understanding, in what ways should the Projects S&T be modified?

Freeze Legs

Freeze Tasks Full Kits

Freeze Projects