This Focused Performance Weblog is a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective. TOC is noted for its applications in Project Management and Multi-Project Management (Critical Chain) and Operations Management (Drum-Buffer-Rope), as well as in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Change Management (TOC Thinking Processes). If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
"We call an event or incident a breakdown when we are interrupted in the midst of going about fulfilling our commitment."
Exactly. Breakdowns (problems) only exist in terms of getting in the way of achieving a goal. Additionally, they always involve some sort of dilemma or conflict, forcing us to consider doing something we would prefer not doing. A deeper question is whether that dilemma is real or illusory; whether the rock is immovable and the hard place impervious, or whether they only seem so in terms of a faulty understanding of the situation.
Hal promises to continue with a discussion of "avoiding breakdowns." It'll be interesting to see where he's going to go with that topic, as I would contend the vast majority of avoidable breakdowns are encountered due to iatrogenic sources, induced by previous "good intentions;" a source similar to that that makes the aforementioned dilemmas seem real.
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