RE: Examples of applied systems thinking (compatible with the

["Gilbert, Rick" <rick.gilbert@weyerhaeuser.com>]

	I did not see the original post, only Kurt Schock's response (I
haven't even had time to lurk here lately).  I believe that Kurt may have
described a narrow view of TOC.  I have been a student of TOC (Theory of
Constraints) for a while -- 5+ years knowingly, and perhaps another 8-10
years without recognizing it.

	There is an ongoing debate in one TOC e-mail list about the goal of
a company.  Some contend that it is "to make money, now and in the future."
Others (including myself) are a little more holistic.  The goal is something
broader than "make money," but in for-profit companies, making money is a
decent indicator -- provided one recognizes that there are necessary
conditions that go along with it.

	In It's Not Luck (North River Press, 1994), Goldratt lists criteria
for weeding out good strategy from bad.  He states (through the characters
in this novel) that there are three necessary conditions by which any
strategy must be judged.  The strategy must enable the company to: (NC1)
make money (satisfy  investors), (NC2) provide satisfaction to the market
(customers) and (NC3) provide satisfying and secure employment to its
employees.  Any strategy that compromises any one of these conditions will
ultimately compromise them all.  

	So although "making money" may appear as the goal among some TOC
circles, I believe one can make a case that TOC advocates increasing value
creation in a way consistent with Deming's teachings.  For me, there is no
conflict.

	By the way, TOC is also consistent with Covey, in that one can never
be satisfied with anything less than win-win.

	Rick Gilbert
	rick.gilbert@weyerhaeuser.com
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