{"id":1238,"date":"2012-01-14T13:01:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-14T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saasoft.com\/blog\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2012-01-14T13:01:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-14T13:01:00","slug":"the-hierarchy-of-constraints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/?p=1238","title":{"rendered":"The Hierarchy of Constraints"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Improvements need to be sustained –\u00a0but not\u00a0forever.<\/p>\n

They\u00a0should\u00a0be\u00a0worthwhile\u00a0on their own and\u00a0also provide\u00a0a foundation for future improvement.<\/p>\n

Improvement flows and it does so\u00a0down the path of least resistance.\u00a0Improvement will not\u00a0flow up\u00a0the path of most resistance.\u00a0And resistance to\u00a0flow is called a\u00a0constraint<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Many things flow:\u00a0water,\u00a0energy, money, data, ideas, knowledge, influence –\u00a0the list is endless –\u00a0so the list of possible constraints is also endless.\u00a0 But not all constraints are the same: a constraint that limits the flow of water – a dam for instance – does not limit the flow of ideas.<\/p>\n

The flows and their constraints can be arranged\u00a0on a\u00a0contiuum with\u00a0one end labelled\u00a0“Physics” and the other end labelled “Paradigms”.\u00a0 Physical flows\u00a0are constrained by the Laws of the Universe which\u00a0are absolute and stable. Philosophical flows are\u00a0constrained by\u00a0beliefs which\u00a0are\u00a0arbitrary and\u00a0mutable.<\/p>\n

This spectrum is often viewed as a hierarchy – with Paradigms\u00a0at the top and Physics at the bottom – and between these limits there\u00a0is a contiuum of constraints.\u00a0 The Paradigm is completely abstract and intangible and is made actual through Policy, guided\u00a0by\u00a0Politics, and enforced by Police.\u00a0 The root of all these words\u00a0is\u00a0“poli” which means “many” and implies the collective of people. So, a Policy is\u00a0an arbitrary\u00a0constraint that\u00a0limits what is\u00a0and what is not allowed. It is the social\u00a0white line that\u00a0indicates what behaviours the collective\u00a0expect from the individual.\u00a0 A Policy is\u00a0implemented as a\u00a0Process.<\/p>\n

What actually happens is constrained by the Physics. Irrespective of the Paradigm, Policy and Process – if the Laws of Physics say something\u00a0is impossible then it does not happen. It is impossible to squeeze, store or reverse time. It is impossible to do something that requires 30 mins of time in\u00a05 minutes; it is impossible to store time to use later; it is impossible to rewind time go back to a previous point in time.<\/p>\n

From the perspective of reality our hierarchy of constraints is upside down – Physics dictates what is possible\u00a0irrespective\u00a0of what the Paradigm indicates is believable.\u00a0\u00a0What is believable may not be possible; and what is possible may not be believed.<\/p>\n

Improvement Science is\u00a0the art of the possible – of what the\u00a0Laws of Physics do not forbid – a\u00a0wide vista of opportunity.\u00a0 It is now that\u00a0our Paradigm acts as the constraint – and Improvement Science is the ability to challenge our Paradigm.\u00a0 Only then can we create the\u00a0Policy and the\u00a0Process that will\u00a0deliver actual, valuable and sustainable improvement.<\/p>\n

Some parts of our Paradigm\u00a0are necessary\u00a0to provide explanation and meaning.\u00a0Other parts are not needed – they are\u00a0our “belief baggage” – the assumptions that we have picked up along the way;\u00a0the mumbo-jumbo that obscures the\u00a0true message. When we\u00a0focus on the\u00a0mumbo-jumbo we miss the message and we open the door to\u00a0cynicism and distrust.<\/p>\n

Our challenge is\u00a0to separate the two – the wheat from the chaff; the\u00a0diamond from the dross and the\u00a0pearl-of-wisdom hidden in the\u00a0ocean-of-data.\u00a0 What do we actively include? What do we\u00a0actively exclude? What do we actively remove? What do\u00a0we actively improve?\u00a0 We need to monitor all four\u00a0parts of our Paradigm\u00a0and that task\u00a0is\u00a0what The 4N Chart\u00ae\u00a0was designed to help us do.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> get The 4N Chart template and here<\/a> to get The 4N Chart instructions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Improvements need to be sustained –\u00a0but not\u00a0forever. They\u00a0should\u00a0be\u00a0worthwhile\u00a0on their own and\u00a0also provide\u00a0a foundation for future improvement. Improvement flows and it does so\u00a0down the path of least resistance.\u00a0Improvement will not\u00a0flow up\u00a0the path of most resistance.\u00a0And resistance to\u00a0flow is called a\u00a0constraint. \u00a0Many things flow:\u00a0water,\u00a0energy, money, data, ideas, knowledge, influence –\u00a0the list is endless –\u00a0so the list of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Hierarchy of Constraints”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,35,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4n-chart","category-reflections","category-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}