Due to the global success of Dr. Goldratt’s first business novel ‘The Goal’ most people mistakenly think of TOC as just a technique for manufacturing. While TOC does produces fast and radical improvements in manufacturing processes, it is in fact a whole system philosophy and method. The thinking that underlies this theory stems from a worldview […]
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The 10 Steps of the Decalogue
1. Establishing the goal of the system, the units of measurement and the operation measurements 2. Seeing the system 3. Making the system stable 4. Identifying the constraint and carry out the Five Focusing Steps 5. Implementing buffer management 6. Reducing the variability of the constraint and the main processes 7. Creating a […]
Why Are There So Many Bad Managers? (And Why Are Project Managers the Solution?)
An alarming number of people leave their jobs because of bad managers, according to a recent report from Gallup. This is bad news not just for the unhappy employees but for the organizations who lose good resources. Management has been around for a long time, so why are people still so bad at it? Being […]
Project Manager – a Systemic View
The term Project Manager is much abused. We look at a precise definition of what Project Manager means in a systemic organization, where projects make up the nervous system of the organization. An organization is essentially a network of projects with a goal An organization is essentially a network of projects with a goal. There […]
The Intelligent Management of Transformation
What is transformation of an enterprise, why do we need it and how can we achieve it? Dr. Domenico Lepore, Founder of Intelligent Management Inc. outlines how we can use our brains to make systemic change for a sustainable future. From exile to freedom: splitting the Red Sea Stupidity, as Dr. Deming has reminded us, […]
Complexity and Root Cause Analysis – Where Is the Link?
We’ve been asked how come we talk about complexity and also root cause analysis. Aren’t they incompatible? The answer is no, and here we explain why root cause analysis is your best friend in managing complex situations and environments. Why complexity and a “reductionist” root cause analysis are not incompatible Let me preface this post […]
Whole System Management for the Age of Complexity
Seeing the Whole System When we first started our firm in Italy in the mid 1990s it was to work with Deming’s principles about Quality. It quickly became clear that Deming’s philosophy went far beyond the conventional notions of Quality management. It was about nothing less than transformation. Transformation of the prevailing management style based on […]
Creating Flow in Your Organization as a Sustainable System
In this post we look at how we can create a sustainable system, how we can operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would not be a great […]
A New Organizational Design for Complexity
Many organizations still have traditional hierarchies and silo their people into functions. But the complexity of today’s reality needs something different. With the exponential growth of interconnections and interdependencies, a traditional organizational design can undermine productivity and sustainable growth. Here we summarize the organizational design we propose, specifically applied to organizations with a well defined goal. It […]
Holacracy vs. Hierarchy? The Answer Lies in Managing Complexity.
A recent article about the company Zappo’s relates how they have chosen a new organizational structure of holacracy that removes traditional managers and job titles. They believe this new structure will allow them to grow in a way that is less rigid and bureaucratic. While this may be a move in the right direction from […]














