Advanced Fundamentals of TOC
Eight lessons that go beneath the Five Focusing Steps: the crisis in management, hidden capacity, thinking like a scientist, and the full Thinking Processes toolkit, from conflict clouds to the strategy and tactics tree.
- 8 lessons, about 122 minutes in all
- Free, no sign-up. Your progress is saved in this browser
- Certificate of completion when you pass all eight quizzes
- 1 The crisis in managementMedicine keeps people alive longer; management hasn’t kept companies alive longer. Look at how companies die, and at the one graph every business has to keep apart. 12 min
- 2 Hidden capacityEvery company has capacity it can’t see: in operations, in its market, and in its managers’ time. Learn the symptoms of each, and the local-optima thinking that hides them. 14 min
- 3 Thinking like a scientistWhy the conventional company loses its direction, why data alone doesn’t settle arguments, and how predicted effects let you validate a cause you can’t see. 14 min
- 4 Inherent simplicity and the current reality treeThe first belief of TOC: however complex a situation looks, it is governed by very few causes. The current reality tree is how you find them, and the logic checks keep it honest. 16 min
- 5 Inherent harmony and the conflict cloudThe second belief: every chronic problem is held in place by a conflict, and every conflict rests on an assumption that can be challenged. Learn to build a cloud, surface its assumptions and find the injection. 20 min
- 6 Testing the solutionAn injection that looks good can still backfire. The future reality tree checks that it delivers the results you want, and negative branches turn objections into a stronger solution, because people are good. 14 min
- 7 Causing the changeThe third question: how to cause the change? Map the obstacles, set intermediate objectives, sequence the actions, and for a whole organisation, connect strategy to tactics in one tree. And coach by asking, not telling. 16 min
- 8 Inherent potentialThe fourth belief: every situation can be substantially improved. See what released capacity does to a loss-making company, what a decisive competitive edge is, and test your thinking on a final case. 16 min
- ✓Your certificateUnlocks when all eight quizzes are passed.
This course grows out of the “What is TOC?” sessions I run for leadership teams. Take Fundamentals of TOC first if the goal, throughput accounting and the Five Focusing Steps are new to you.