Solve the right problem by finding the constraint before you push harder
A regional sales team was 18% behind plan by mid‑quarter. The knee‑jerk response was “make more calls.” The manager paused and ran a short constraints review. On a whiteboard, she wrote “18% gap” and then listed five possible causes in two minutes: weak lead quality, slow follow‑up, shaky demos, unclear proposals, and poor closing. She asked the team, “What else is the problem?” five times. On the third pass, a rep admitted that their proposals were taking three days because the template was confusing and legal review unpredictable. Deals died during the silence.
The manager turned the bottleneck into a goal: “24‑hour proposal turnaround.” She pulled one rep for a day to streamline the template, negotiated a same‑day legal review window for standard terms, and created a two‑slide summary to send within an hour of the call. In seven days, turnaround time dropped from three days to one. Close rates rose by eight points because prospects finally felt momentum. The team still made calls, but fixing the constraint did more than working harder on the wrong thing.
A similar pattern shows up in schoolwork. One student kept missing essay deadlines. She assumed the fix was “write faster.” After five “what else” passes, she realized the block was not speed, it was uncertainty about expectations. She drafted a one‑page rubric from the assignment sheet and reviewed it with her teacher. The next draft took less time because she finally knew what “good” looked like.
This is the Theory of Constraints in plain clothes. Between you and any goal, one bottleneck sets the speed of progress. Identify it accurately, turn it into a goal, and focus resources there first. Asking “what else is the problem?” five times bypasses blame and reveals leverage. It’s not glamorous, but it’s what moves numbers.
State the shortfall without drama, then brainstorm five possible causes quickly. Now ask yourself or the team “what else is the problem?” five times to surface the real constraint. Turn that bottleneck into a clear target and push your best time and talent there for a focused week before you optimize anything else. You’ll feel momentum return when the wait time, confusion, or friction shrinks. Try a five‑minute drill today on one stubborn metric.
What You'll Achieve
Internally, you’ll shift from reactive busyness to calm diagnostic thinking. Externally, you’ll remove a single bottleneck and see measurable gains in speed, quality, or conversion within a week.
Drill down with five ‘what else’ passes
Name the outcome gap
State the shortfall plainly, e.g., “Sales are 20% below target,” or “Essay drafts miss deadlines.” Keep it factual.
List possible causes fast
Write at least five reasons without judging them. Pace over perfection matters here.
Ask ‘what else is the problem?’ five times
Each round forces you past the obvious into root causes, like poor lead quality, weak close, or unclear assignment prompts.
Turn the constraint into a goal
Rewrite the main bottleneck as a target, e.g., “Double qualified leads by May 31,” or “Create a one‑page rubric by Friday.”
Focus resources there first
Shift time and energy to the constraint for one sprint week before optimizing anything else.
Reflection Questions
- Where am I trying to sprint through mud instead of draining it?
- If I could fix only one thing this week, what would move numbers fastest?
- What answer did I resist during the fifth ‘what else’ pass?
Personalization Tips
- Startup: Instead of coding more features, fix slow onboarding that blocks activation.
- School: Rather than adding study hours, build a 10‑question practice quiz to clarify what “good” looks like.
Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible
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