I can’t get everything done… Yes, you’ve felt this, and heard it from others many times. Why is this a recurring theme? As you and your organization grow, you and your systems must grow as well. The organization you have right now cannot survive in its present state as it expands.
Why? Because we only have so many hours in a day. As we grow, we add more workload. More workload means more work. More work requires more time to do it. And we only have so many hours in the day.
See the problem yet? Every person, every organization, every system runs out of capacity at some point. That is a 100% mathematic certainty. And we all inherently know it’s true. How? Because no person or system has infinite capacity. If we did, we would also have infinite profit. And I don’t know of a single business that has infinite profit.
Feeling like you’re getting more and more busy? Running out of time to get everything done more and more often. That’s very good news. That means you’re growing.
But with growth comes pain. That’s normal. It happens because the the people and systems that were built to get you where you are will not have the capacity to handle where you going.
The solution? Think different. Take a step back and look at your systems and processes. You need not change everything in your systems and processes. That would throw everything and everyone into chaos. Instead, look for the few places where workflow is piling up. That is what we call a constraint. Focus your improvement efforts only on your system’s constraint. Don’t point fingers and blame people for something that naturally occurs. Instead, make sure everyone in that system is aware of the constraint. Get their cooperation in resolving it.
And by the way, nearly every constraint I have ever found with my clients comes as a result of current policies, procedures, and measurements. And that’s great news. Because those things are easy to change.
Need help finding and resolving your constraints? Read Eli Goldratt’s book called “The Goal.” Or, give me a call. I can help you find the 7 different kinds of constraints in your business.