Theory of Constraints

Overview

The Theory of Constraints (TOC), from Eliyahu Goldratt's "The Goal," says a throughput-limited system has exactly one constraint setting its rate. Optimizing anything else is wasted effort—often counterproductive. Find the bottleneck, exploit it, subordinate everything else to it, and only then elevate it.

Core Principle: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Strengthening any other link does nothing.

When to Use

• Latency optimization where one stage dominates the time budget
• Throughput optimization where one stage caps the rate
• A pipeline where work piles up before one specific stage