-Confucius, The Confucian Analects If an initiative aims to significantly improve an organization's performance, then inevitably changes would be needed to various tasks (decisions and actions) that the organization's people are doing. If the initiative is going to stick, then not only the tasks, but the thinking behind those tasks must also change. Irrespective of an individual's level in the organizational hierarchy, or the functional areas in which they reside, each person in the organization wants the same things-to understand how they fit in the big picture, why they are necessary to the whole, and how they contribute to making a real difference.

For each change an initiative requires people to make, they need to understand the changes that they need to make and why. If the answers to the following four questions are not effectively articulated, organized and communicated, people will be forced to make their own assumptions about the answers, and they will behave accordingly. And the likelihood decreases dramatically that the initiative would be a success.

1. For each change I need to make, why do I need to make it?

2. What will the change achieve, vis-a-vis the goal of the initiative?

3. What do I actually need to do in order to make the change?

4. Why will the actions achieve the needed change?

The various TP applications discussed in this chapter provide a robust set of tools with which we are able to fully and logically analyze and describe a core problem, the solution, the hurdles we need to overcome in order to move from the current to the new reality, and even detailed action plans to reach specific milestones and objectives. TOC also provides the recognition of the layers of resistance and an effective approach to achieving collaboration and buy-in while honoring the win-win principle (Chapter 20).

But as more TOC implementations focused on holistic organizational transformation rather than single-function improvement programs, it became clear that the standard collection of excellent TOC tools were insufficient to obtain the synchronization and communication required for a major, holistic organizational transformation initiative to achieve and sustain the intended improvements. And they did not provide the means by which anybody in the organization could readily answer the four questions above.

A well written S&T is the TP tool that organizes the full analysis in a way that the answers to the four questions are provided for each function across the organization, to the degree of detail needed at each level up and down the hierarchy, in a single logical map.

The First Step: The Goal

When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.

-Albert Einstein, The World as I See It.

FIGURE 25-34 Cost-and-Effect relationship of Strategy, Tactic, and Parallel Assumption.

Imagine trying to answer any of the four questions for everyone in the organization without first having a clear definition of the goal-the purpose-of the initiative. I can't either. Therefore, defining the goal of the initiative is the starting point of the S&T. For example, the goal of a Viable Vision initiative is stated as follows (with permission from Goldratt Consulting): The company is an Ever Flourishing Company; continuously and significantly increasing value21 to stakeholders-employees, clients and shareholders.

But this high-level statement of the goal does not provide enough information to align and synchronize the specific changes that the organization must make throughout its various levels and functions. We also need a high-level understanding of how the company is going to become ever flourishing. In an S&T, the purpose of the initiative is thus always described with the following three elements: 1. The Strategy-The "What" of the Initiative The purpose of the initiative-the goal the organization is intending to achieve as a result of the implementation.

2. The Parallel Assumptions-The "Why" of the Tactic The conditions that exist in reality that lead us to a specific course of action that would achieve the strategy; the logical connection between the tactic and the strategy; a well written set of parallel assumptions explains why the tactic is the course of action that leads to attainment of the strategy.

3. The Tactic-The "How" of the Initiative What needs to be done in order for the implementation to achieve the goal.

If you were to model the S&T step using the cause-and-effect mapping process described in this chapter, it would look like Fig. 25-34.

Table 25-7 contains the strategy, parallel assumptions and tactic that comprise the first S&T step for every company that embarks on a Viable Vision implementation:22 Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

-Sun Tzu

Branching into Layers of Detail

Once the initiative has been defined at the highest level, we can derive the details that are necessary to implement it. Let's imagine your company is just beginning a Viable Vision initiative, and the CEO has just completed reading to you the strategy, parallel assumptions, and tactic of Step 1 of the Viable Vision S&T. What is the next set of information that is needed in order to determine the specific tasks that people must carry out to implement the initiative?

TABLE 25-7 Strategy, Parallel Assumptions, Tactic and Sufficiency Assumptions.

Certainly, the first thing we need is the definition of the company's decisive competitive edge. What is it, and why is it appropriate for your company? What makes it different from the way your company has competed in the past? Once this is understood, the next level of detail must provide the guidance for building it and capitalizing on the decisive competitive edge. Given that this initiative is about ongoing growth and stability, guidance is also needed on how the company intends to sustain the decisive competitive edge while it grows. For each of these aspects of the initiative, you must then know what it means in terms of the specific changes that you and others must make in your day-to-day jobs, and it is important to assure that the changes you need to make are not in conflict with those above you or below you in the hierarchy, or with other functions.

Notice that your thinking is taking you to increasingly granular levels of detail. Each level of the S&T provides more detail to the level above it. Figure 25-35 illustrates this, and provides the themes of some of the steps that you would find on a typical S&T associated with a Viable Vision implementation.

FIGURE 25-35 The S&T cascading levels of detail.

How do we know when a layer should be added? Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Given that what we do is the result of what we think, we can also define insanity as, "thinking the same way over and over again and expecting different results." The purpose of the initiative is to elevate the organization's performance. We have already established that this involves making changes not only to the tasks that people perform, but to the way people think about their tasks and the relationship between what they do and the purpose of the initiative. Therefore, we must consider the potential for inertia-the tendency to think the way we've always thought when determining or communicating the changes that must be made to achieve and sustain the intended results of the initiative.

A layer is added only when there is a good chance that inertia will prevent the right actions from being taken. Another way to say this is that if we don't pay attention to the sufficiency assumption, then the chances of implementing the tactic correctly or achieving the strategy are dramatically reduced. The Sufficiency Assumption is the verbalization of the specific reason for concern. In Table 25-7, you see that the Sufficiency Assumption that guides the next level of the S&T is, "The constraint is management attention. The company must operate based on robust procedures, otherwise the constraint is wasted."

S&T Elements

Once we have defined of the goal of the initiative as the first S&T step, we have established the single reason for anybody to be asked to make a change to the way they work or think: If they don't make the change, the organization would be blocked from achieving the goal of the initiative.

As you see in Fig. 25-38, each entity in an S&T is referred to as a Step. From Level 2 downwards, each Step contains several elements: The Necessary Assumption-The "Why" of the Step The reason that the higher-level S&T step cannot be implemented unless a change is made.

In other words, it describes the necessity for an action to be taken.

The Strategy-The "What" of the Step The objective-the intended outcome-of the S&T step.

When the strategy is achieved, the need described by the necessary assumption is met.

The Parallel Assumptions-The "Why" of the Tactic The conditions which exist in reality leading us to a specific course of action that would achieve the strategy; they form the logical connection between the tactic and the strategy, explaining why the tactic is the course of action that leads to attainment of the strategy.

The Tactic-The "How" of the Step What needs to be done in order to achieve the strategy. In a well-written S&T step, the tactic is obvious once the parallel assumptions are read.

The Sufficiency Assumption23-The "Why" of the Next Level Explains the need to provide another level of detail to the step; if we don't pay attention to it, the likelihood of taking the right actions is significantly diminished.

Figure 25-36 illustrates the necessary and sufficient logical relationships between the various steps in an S&T and their higher and lower levels. In the illustration, both 2.1 and 2.2 are necessary in order for 1 to become reality. Once both 2.1 and 2.2 are implemented, 1 will have been implemented, and the goal of the initiative achieved. Steps 3.11.1, 3.11.2 and 3.11.3 are each necessary for 2.1. Once all three are implemented, the strategy of 2.1 will have been achieved. Steps 3.12.1, 3.12.2, and 3.12.3 are each necessary for 2.2. Once all three are implemented, the strategy of 2.2 will have been achieved.24 FIGURE 25-36 Logical relationship between steps and levels.

Communication, Alignment, and Synchronization

By using the S&T as the main vehicle to orchestrate and communicate an initiative, the answers to the four questions that people must have in order for an initiative to achieve and sustain its goal are readily available.

1. For each change I need to make, why do I need to make it?

This question is answered by the Necessary Assumption.

2. What will the change achieve, vis-a-vis the goal of the initiative?

This question is answered by the Strategy.

3. What do I actually need to do in order to make the change?

This question is answered by the Tactic.

4. Why will the actions achieve the needed change?

This question is answered by the Parallel Assumptions.

By examining a branch of the tree vertically, we see the alignment of each level in the hierarchy. By examining a S&T horizontally, we see the synchronization across functions.

The structure of the S&T provides the way for us to understand how any local action is contributing to the global goal of the initiative.

Implementing an S&T

People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.

-Albert Einstein Just as with the rest of the TP and TOC, the logic of the scientist is applicable to the use of the S&T. If an assumption in the S&T is found to be invalid in the environment in which the S&T is being implemented, then it is likely the corresponding strategy or tactic should be changed! Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that from the beginning of any implementation, the assumptions are being checked and validated, and that as actions are taken, the intended effects are checked.

The activities of an implementation for any higher level step in the S&T are defined in the lowest level that has been written for the step. The S&T is written so that the order in which the activities take place can and should generally be implemented from left to right. One of the most important rules governing the best in class implementations of S&T's is "one step at a time." Following this guideline provides for the ability to: Check that the cause and effect assumed in an S&T step is what actually occurs in the reality of the implementation. Remembering the cause-and-effect relationship between the tactic and its strategy, we know that once we implement a tactic, we should be able to verify that the strategy-the objective of the tactic-is in place. There are only a few reasons why it would not be: The tactic was not implemented correctly.

There is another aspect of reality that was not taken into account, which is blocking the strategy from being in place.

The parallel assumption was incorrect.

Implementing one step at a time makes it exponentially easier to check for each of these possibilities and make the appropriate course corrections very quickly, and with clear understanding. For each additional step we try to implement simultaneously, the number of variables we must check increases significantly, our chances for incorrect assessment of the problem increases, and the time that must be spent on analyzing, checking, and correcting increases.

Secures the understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship that exists between the tactic and strategy. It is one thing to read an S&T or to get instructions and training to implement a specific tactic. It is quite another to actually experience the positive effects from implementation of a specific tactic. When it is crystal clear that a specific action or set of actions leads to a specific significant improvement for those involved in the implementation, the inclination to "go back to the old way" is increasingly blocked.

Helps to avoid bad multitasking, which always leads to increased timelines and mistakes.

Combining steps lengthens the time to secure the results and puts the implementation at risk. Taking one step at a time helps to ensure that the good changes will stick, and the not-so-good changes (surprises) can be addressed immediately because the cause is known.

Appendix G contains screenshots of the hierarchy of an S&T used for many Make-To-Order companies.25 The activities under 3.1 generally fall under Operations, and the activities of 3.2 generally fall under Sales and Marketing, so the implementation of 3.11 and 3.12 can occur simultaneously. Under 3.1, the implementation goes in the order of the Level 4 entities-4.11.1 through 4.11.6. Some of these Level 4 entities are detailed to Level 5 and some are not. Entity 4.11.1 is implemented at Level 5, starting with 5.111.1, and completing with 5.111.4. Only after 5.111.4 is completed, and the strategy of 4.11 is verified to be in place, do we move to 4.11.2 through its Level 5 entities, 5.112.1, 5.112.2, and 5.112.3. After checking that the strategy of 4.11.2 is in place, we move to 4.13, etc. The same approach is used to implement 3.12. We begin with 4.12.1, via its Level 5 entities 5.121.1 through 5.121.4.

We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.

-Calvin Coolidge

Using the TPs to Implement an S&T

Earlier in the chapter I showed you one example of how the Cloud had been used in implementing the POOGI step of an MTO S&T. I would like to provide a few more examples of the use of the TP when an S&T is guiding an implementation.

Use of the Negative Branch Reservation

As you can imagine, implementing a major initiative requires gaining and sustaining the understanding of and buy-in to what is being implemented, and in the cases of valid reservations, making the appropriate modifications to the S&T. The NBR is used to facilitate the accomplishment of this, both before and during the implementation. The example I provide here is taken from a manufacturing company in the United States that made the decision to go on a Viable Vision implementation. The critical part of the decision process is for the top management and other key people in the company to go through a multi-day session in which they learn the relevant TOC and scrutinize their S&T. At key points in the session, they map out the NBRs that are concerning them about implementing specific aspects of the S&T. The company's S&T is a modified MTO S&T, and one of the reservations that was expressed during the session was focused on the tactic of Step 3.1, which states: The company manages its operations according to the four concepts of flow.

The NBR that the manager submitted is pictured in Fig. 25-37. When they looked at the NBR they had written, it became obvious to the management team that they were the key to preventing the negative effects from emerging. Their injections, which were incorporated in their implementation plan, were to ensure that education was provided to employees and management alike, and the commitment that if any existing measures turned out to reinforce the belief, they would be addressed. They were relieved that they could deal with the issue, and were energized to continue the session and move into their implementation. Eighteen NBRs were documented and addressed by the management team in that session. Some needed injections, two resulted in modifications being made to the S&T, and most were addressed by gaining better understanding of the S&T, itself.