Lesson 5: Finding injections

From assumption to injection

If we can make one of the reasons for the conflict no longer true, the problem disappears: the cloud evaporates. To make an assumption untrue, we must introduce something new into reality. That new thing is an injection.

A good injection satisfies both needs, B and C. It is neither D nor D′, so it is written D*. It can be something completely new, or D or D′ with a change that lets it satisfy both needs.

Work it as a table:

Assumption	Challenge (is it really so? always?)	Possible injection	Does it give B and C?

A worked example: the shipping call

Back to the firefighting cloud. Shipping wants to call the customer (D) to ensure on-time shipment (B). The rule says only the account manager may call the customer (D′), to maintain good customer relationships (C).

The assumptions under B–D:

The shipment is due now, and without the delivery address it can’t leave.
The account manager has been unavailable for days, so waiting for him means missing the date.
Shipping knows exactly which piece of information is missing.

Under D–D′, why we can’t do both:

There is no procedure for who contacts the customer when the account manager is away.

The assumptions under C–D′:

Customers get irritated and confused when contacted by different people from the company.
The account manager always passes full and accurate information about the customer to every other function.
Only the account manager knows what information the customer expects him to have and handle.

Read both sides. The B–D assumptions are facts of the situation; challenging them won’t help. The weak spot is on the C–D′ side. Challenge it. Is it really so that any call from someone else confuses the customer? Always? What if the call is about a specific, missing piece of delivery information, and the account manager is unavailable?

Injection: Whenever on-time shipment is at risk because the delivery information is incomplete and the customer account manager is not available, shipping has the authority to contact the customer for that information.

Now check it against both needs:

If this injection exists, then on-time shipment is ensured (B), because shipping can get the information itself without waiting for the manager.
If this injection exists, then good customer relationships are maintained (C), because the customer is contacted only in a narrow, clear situation, and the shipment arrives on time.

Four things that look like injections

Injections differ by the kind of cloud:

For one-off problems (inner dilemma, day-to-day conflict), injections are actions: what will you do?
For system problems (UDE clouds, firefighting clouds, the core conflict), injections are desired states: conditions that will exist all the time. “Work orders are sequenced by buffer priority.” “Buffer management is in place.” “Management is committed to…”

Three things are often mistaken for injections to a system cloud:

It looks like…	Example	What it really is
Something to do right now	“Identify the constraint”	An action
A one-time result	“The constraint is identified”	An intermediate objective: it removes an obstacle once
The result we hope for	“Conflicts between production and sales no longer exist”	A desired effect: the outcome, not the condition that produces it
A condition that exists all the time	“Capacity is monitored to identify the constraint whenever it emerges”	An injection

Two more pairs from practice:

“Identify the reasons for buffer penetration” is an action. “Reasons for buffer penetration are identified” is an intermediate objective. The injection: “Reasons for buffer penetration are reviewed periodically for ongoing improvement.”
“Train salespeople to get buy-in from prospects” is an action. “Salespeople are trained…” is an intermediate objective. The injection: “The process of getting buy-in from prospects is continuously transferred to salespeople, monitored and managed.”

Exercise: for a system cloud about late orders, what is each of these?

Train the planners on buffer management
The planners are trained on buffer management
Orders are delivered on time
Orders are released and prioritised by buffer status every day

Pause and think: why must an injection to a system cloud be a lasting state rather than an action?

States are easier to measure
The conflict returns once the condition stops; a one-time action fixes it once
Because actions are not allowed in TOC injections, which must always be written as goals
Because managers prefer states

A system conflict recurs every day. The injection must be a condition that keeps it dissolved every day.

Workbook: the injection for your cloud

Below is your cloud with its assumptions. For each assumption, ask “is it really so?” and “always?”. Choose the injection that breaks one of them, write it in the injection box, and complete the two checks: “if injection, then B, because…” and “if injection, then C, because…”. Check my work will flag injections that read like actions, one-time results or desired effects.

Check your understanding

Answer all five. Get four right to complete the lesson.

1. A good injection…

Is a compromise between D and D′ that both sides can live with
Satisfies only B
Breaks an assumption and satisfies both B and C
Is always D′

It is D*: neither D nor D′.

2. For a UDE or firefighting cloud, an injection is worded as…

A desired state that exists all the time
An action to take today, with an owner
A one-time result
A desired effect

System problems need lasting conditions.

3. “The constraint is identified” is…

An injection
An action
A desired effect
An intermediate objective

A one-time result that removes an obstacle.

4. “Conflicts between production and sales no longer exist” is…

An injection
A desired effect
An action
An assumption

It is the result we want, not the condition that produces it.

5. How do you check an injection?

Ask the boss
Compare its cost with D and choose the cheaper one
Read “if injection, then B, because…” and the same for C
Count the assumptions

It must deliver both needs.