Constraints create surprising results

Entry#75 on the way the Empire State Building came to be...

#75

I don’t know how I find all these links, I often forget the person who shared it, but this one’s a goodie if you have ever wondered about how things worked before computers.

Here’s an incredible lecture by Mary Poppendieck (transcribed by Chris Gagne) titled ‘The Tyranny of The Plan’.

https://chrisgagne.com/1255/mary-poppendiecks-the-tyranny-of-the-plan/

Mary mentions the Empire State Building in her lecture. I highly recommend scrolling down to find that part - if only that part, the rest is also excellent.

To cut to the gist, Mary is describing incredible construction achievements in 1930 that sound impossible to our modern computer-loving ears:

• the tallest building in New York (at the time) completed to its deadline and 18% under budget,

• from demolition to occupancy took 12 months,

• at the time of signing the first contracts, no building design was yet chosen.

She is pointing out, brutally, that computers have garnered no benefit to the construction, manufacturing or production industries in which she has worked all her life.

Computer modelling, projections, detailed plans…they all fail to deliver what we hope for - we hope for more, faster, cheaper.

The lesson from the Empire State Building is

know thy constraints!

Here’s a snip from her lecture presentation, some absolute gold in here.

Copyright Poppendieck, 2009.

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Constraints are important, they are honest.

Constraints are neutral, they just are.

Constraints don’t care what you wish was possible, they cannot care at all.

Mary also mentions systems and goals in this lecture. Another fascinating section that turned on a lightbulb for me. She quotes W. E. Deming and paraphrases from his book to say,

““don’t set targets” and by this I mean performance targets. Don’t set targets because if you have a stable system—a stable workflow—then there’s no use to specify a goal. You’ll get whatever the system will deliver, whatever it’s capable of, what its capability is.”

No need to set a goal in an unstable system either - it will never be reached, there’s too much chaos. Instead, as in the Empire State Building, if the focus is on creating a stable workflow then a lot of good work and good outcomes will be delivered.

Process over outcomes. Notice the workflow, find the blockages and problem solve to create more flow.

Thinking about constraints honestly and checking I am operating in a stable workflow has been very helpful for me over the last few months. I can’t always control the workflow stability, but to name the ‘constraints of the day’ is something I can manage.

Tell me, does this make sense for you too?

That is all for today. As always, I look forward to hearing what you heard, saw and felt when reading this.

With love,

Michelle xx