CF Dictionary · Theory of Constraints Terms
Five Focusing Steps
ToC's iterative process for finding and managing the constraint: identify, exploit, subordinate, elevate, repeat.
The Five Focusing Steps are ToC's process for managing constraints. They form a loop:
- Identify the system's constraint (the bottleneck).
- Exploit the constraint — get the most out of it without expensive change. Reduce its downtime, ensure it's never starved, use its capacity fully.
- Subordinate everything else to the constraint — don't let non-bottleneck steps run at full speed if that starves the constraint.
- Elevate the constraint — make a real change to increase its capacity. Buy a faster machine, hire another worker.
- Repeat — once the constraint is broken, find the new constraint. Don't let inertia turn yesterday's bottleneck into today's local-optimum.
Why a loop, not a list
- Constraints shift. Today's bottleneck is not tomorrow's.
- Inertia. Without the loop, you keep optimising the old constraint.
- Continuous improvement. ToC's loop is its "ongoing improvement" engine.
CF's adoption
CF keeps the loop as a thinking tool:
- For any multi-factor problem, ask the five questions.
- Don't skip subordinate. It's tempting to "elevate" before exploiting.
- Don't skip repeat. New constraint after the fix.
Failure modes
- Stop at step 4. No repeat → no ongoing improvement.
- Confuse exploitation with elevation. Both are needed.
- Optimise the wrong step. Subordinate non-constraints, exploit the bottleneck.
"Five focusing steps: They're a process for improving business performance. They try to focus your attention on the most important changes to make." — criticalfallibilism.com