TOC 4 Software

Finally ... something to look at.

Well it's been an interesting trip so far - for me (and Jim).  I imagine it's been fairly dull for the rest of you.

This entry introduces the "Current Reality Tree":

• The CRT is spread over 5 separate pages.  I'll post each page as a separate blog entry.
• The CRT shows the current reality of the waterfall/critical path environment that I was working in. 
• It links the conflict or core problem (at the bottom) of the tree to the UDEs I started with (several) months ago (at the top). 
• You'll instantly see gaps and have questions, which is good.  Use the yahoo group for discussion. 

BTW: I'll describe how I got here later.  It's feels a bit like (to borrow from Otto Von Bismark) making sausages and laws: it is best not seeing them made.  I could grumble on with a whole list of reasons and excuses why it's been frustrating for me, but it all boils down to a steep learning curve for me.

 

Current Reality Tree - page 1

Page one shows conflict at the base of the tree.  I'll explain later how I got to the conflict, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's our good old friend the "iron triangle" - the conflict between schedule, scope and budget.  Until I went through the process I steadfastly thought it was something different.

Current Reality Tree - page 2

Page 2 shows that even though we try to prevent change, change happens anyway.

Current Reality Tree - page 3

Page 3 shows that we try to solve the "manage schedule and budget" side of the tree by having aggressive schedules and that defects and changes result.

Current Reality Tree - page 4

Page 4 shows the game that gets played when staff provide estimates and how we often end up with a schedule that has a little, but not much, wriggle room in it.

Current Reality Tree - page 5

Page 5 brings it all together.  With the UDEs at the top and feeds coming in from pages 1, 2, 3, and 4. 

Updated versions of the Current Reality Tree

Following Jim and Rajeev's comments to the yahoo group, I've updated the visio diagrams.

Here are the 5 new pages:1, 2, 3, 4, & 5.

Using the three cloud method to find the core confict

Several months ago, before I had constructed the communications current reality tree (CCRT) that we've just been looking at, I used the 3 cloud method to create the following core conflict cloud, that you see at the bottom of the CCRT (entities 10, 20, 25, 40, 50).

Building the CCRT

It took me a long time to come up with the 5-page Communications Current Reality Tree  (CCRT).  Much of that is down to inexperience, confusion, multitasking, holidays, book writing, struggling with visio, long distance learning  ... but mostly inexperience on my part.

The Bridge I - surfacing the assumptions under "the cloud"

This entry, and the few following, summarises the conversation Jim and I had trying to “break” the cloud at the bottom of the CCRT.

1. We started with “The problem” - the conflict at the bottom of the tree - that directly causes all of the UDES in the environment (as shown in the CCRT).

2. Then Jim helped me to surfact the assumptions underlying the arrows in the cloud.

Click the thumbnail for a full size image: