Throughput

Throughput is the rate at which a system generates its goal — usually money, sometimes units shipped, sometimes problems solved. ToC's central measure of system success.

Throughput vs. output

• Output. Quantity produced.
• Throughput. Quantity that contributes to the goal.

If you produce 1000 units but can only sell 100, your throughput is 100, not 1000.

Throughput vs. inventory

• Inventory. Work-in-progress, sitting around.
• Throughput. Goal-generating output.

ToC: inventory is a cost; throughput is a goal. Building inventory isn't progress.

Throughput in non-business contexts

CF extends throughput beyond business:

• Learning. Throughput is ideas that survive criticism.
• Research. Throughput is papers that advance the field.
• Personal projects. Throughput is value delivered to your actual goal.

How to measure throughput

1. State the goal. "Make money." "Publish good ideas." "Get healthy."
2. Measure goal-generating activity. Per unit time.
3. Don't count activity that doesn't generate the goal. (Local-optimum trap.)
4. Watch variance. Throughput varies; track the trend.

Throughput ≠ busyness

ToC's critique of busywork: if it doesn't generate throughput, it's not productive. Many "productivity" measures track activity, not throughput.

"Success at our goal is called throughput, which means moving resources through a system to a goal at the end." — criticalfallibilism.com