CONCEPT
The Five Focusing Steps
Goldratt's sequential methodology for managing systems with constraints: identify, exploit, subordinate, elevate, repeat — the operational spine of the Theory of Constraints.
The Five Focusing Steps are Goldratt's operational distillation of the Theory of Constraints — the sequence of management actions that transforms constraint theory from a diagnostic framework into a management practice. The steps are sequential, rigorous, and intolerant of shortcuts: (1) identify the system's constraint; (2) exploit the constraint — squeeze every unit of capacity from it before investing to expand it; (3) subordinate everything else to the constraint — deliberately underutilize non-constraint resources so they produce only what the constraint can absorb; (4) elevate the constraint — invest in expanding its capacity; (5) if the constraint has moved as a result, return to Step One. The steps apply to factories, hospitals, knowledge organizations, and — per the Opus 4.6 simulation — the AI-augmented builder whose judgment has become the new system constraint.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Step One — Identify the Constraint. This is the step most organizations skip or botch. The constraint is the resource whose capacity determines the system's throughput, and its