Critical Fallibilism and Theory of Constraints in One Analyzed Paragraph

[Dface]

@Elliot

Goldratt says lots of companies do lots of initiatives that, if they work correctly, will only provide a small benefit like 1%.

Oh ok I bet he mentions that in his novels.

So it’s not that the initiatives fail and so don’t get big results. It’s that the initiatives do work but due to their size they’re not that effective.

@Elliot

Some of them are complex too.

Ok, I see there’s two kinds of initiatives like they can be lots of (maybe small)initiatives and the initiatives can be complex too. Im thinking initiatives is like making changes

Making changes in a company and getting a small benefit is similar to real life. Like, setting goals and not getting much done. A change in one’s life seems good to follow through with, but not much results are obtained. It’s hard to think of concrete examples right away.

@Elliot

Maybe but often a simple change works.

That’s cool i want to see the difference between the two so I can use simple changes first. Simple changes sound effective.

@Elliot

A car is a complex system. When a car breaks, one simple change will often fix it. You need to understand the system, understand the problem, and figure out the right change.

A car is a complex system because it has many parts to it. It has things like seats, doors, an engine, fuel storage, and other things. Idk how to prove it’s a complex system but i know it has many parts.

@Elliot

When a car breaks, one simple change will often fix it.

“change” can be an action i think like use a certain tool to fix part x of the car.

‘One simple change’ fixing the car sounds right to me cuz the way mechanics know about a car’s problem and they fix it, it seems like they dont have to deal with so many details and use up a lot of time for the change.

@Elliot

You need to understand the system, understand the problem, and figure out the right change.

The way u say u need to understand the system, understand the problem, and figure out the right change in a few words looks like you get how to make effective changes. It’s one sentence but it means a lot.

The “You need to understand the system” means u gotta know how to use, express, work with, make a story out of(maybe), describe how one part affects the other(maybe), and how one part works with another in the system.

Understanding the problem is about what u want from the car, but is also what u learn is happening to the car.

@Elliot

If the car breaks and you start optimizing random stuff, you probably won’t fix it.

“optimizing” looks like it means make things better.

I think “random” is actually random not what a person might think will help with the problem.

@Elliot

You could give it new paint to help prevent rust. You could clean all the trash out of it to reduce excess weight to make it go slightly faster. You could change the oil, get premium gas, get brighter headlights, have a better radio put in, and have a roof rack added.

As random as optimizing all that stuff seems, it doesn’t sound far off to the things humans(including me) do for effective change. Like it’s so hard to get good results.

Also it seems that thinking about the system and the problem for the right change is just not intuitive enough in general. Like cool you’re not working on giving your car a new paint when you’re dealing with an engine problem, but what kinds of changes are you making to the engine when working with the problem and system?

@Elliot

Those all make the car “better” but they’re probably irrelevant to why it broke.

They are making the car better but I think with a different goal in mind.

It’s interesting how one can say something is better but it might not actually be good. It’s like we need a better word than “better” idk.

[Elliot]

@Dface

So it’s not that the initiatives fail and so don’t get big results. It’s that the initiatives do work but due to their size they’re not that effective.

Some work. Some fail.

Some work at first but fail later because people stop doing it or the situation changes. Small improvements, even when they work, can look ineffective to the people doing them, so they get bored and demotivated and eventually stop. Over time, people come up with more improvements or their boss tells them more things to do, and it’s hard to do all of them at once so old ones often get stopped. With stuff that provides a large benefit, workers can usually see the benefit, and the total number of things needed is kept smaller.

[Dface]

@Elliot

This example gets into breakpoints.

I like that cuz i just mentioned an everyday thing n breakpoints become relevant. I thought breakpoints would be something far too complex to bring up.

@Elliot

I think 120hz is good enough.

That’s interesting cuz ive seen people go for different hz. I wonder what reasons make one want a higher or lower refresh rate. The ones that want higher refresh rate I noticed play like fps games. Idk if that requires higher hz.

@Elliot

I like more hz (120 is better than 60) but once it reaches 120hz I don’t really care about more.

Oh you care about how many hz a monitor has, but it seems like at some point when u get to 120 it stops being about adding up the numbers. Like, first the factor adds up it’s a quanitative way. Then after it reaches a certain amount it becomes less about numbers. It becomes something more than just numbers.

When u say u dont really care about more it means uve looked into how many hz u want and ur situation. “really” means more hz wouldnt benefit your general situation.

@Elliot

If a home is too tall, then it’s more vulnerable to wind or earthquakes and maintenance costs are too high.

It seems that increasing a factor doesn’t just net u more in all factors.

@Elliot

That’s doable.

For Mac storage, here are some points you could put nested under it:

• Enough that I don’t need an external drive plugged in constantly?
• Enough to sync my whole photo library instead of keeping it in the cloud?

Ok i like those factors cuz it starts with “Enough”. It answers a yes or no question.

@Elliot

For Mac applications:

• Will run my Final Cut Pro workload well?
• Will run CotEditor and other apple-silicon-only apps?

I like how these factors include something about u like it’s not completely irrelevant to you.

The logic of the second bullet point goes like: is a mac application AND is an apple silicon app AND is CotEditor.

I dont think the logic of the last paragraph is true. I think it’s an error cuz if the logic is used to cross off any factor then it’ll reject a factor that’s an apple silicon only app thats not Cot Editor. Also i dont think im using “factor” right i think “app” or maybe “candidate” is better.

Mini Post Mortem about my logic in the last two paragraphs and about me using “factor” in the last paragraph

Mini Post mortem:

How did that error happen(Error 1 is the logic one and error 2 is the use of factor)?

#1 I thought that the mac has to run mac application and an apple silicon app and cot editor. I thought i could write what kind of app the mac will run and if doesnt then itll be a bad mac. I then wrote the quote below:

“is a mac application AND is an apple silicon app AND is CotEditor.” I think right before is where the error happened cuz i used the skill of what factor are we talking about? What kind of app satisfies the criteria? I thought, “That means only certain apps will satisfy the criteria.” I somehow thought that the subject of the last sentence was the application and not the Mac.

Why?

• Because i didnt know that when u wanna find the logic of critieria that u should find or know what the subject is so u can consider the logic of what ure talking about
• Why?
• Because i thot i didnt know logic was something u could use for this topic
• Why?
• Because idk

I used the logic for the criteria of the application instead of the mac. If u wanna make logic for criteria like this ure gonna have to input the mac or thing being considered so u can cross off or reject the mac.

My new logic will look like: This mac will run Mac Apps + run COT editor + other apple silicon only apps.

#2 How did the error of using factor happen?

I thought since we’re talking about macs and factors that the mac was the factor. I was using the skill of knowing what a factor is and applying it to the wrong thing. I was using it for candidates which were rejected or not by a decision of a factor.

Why was i using the skill wrong? Because i dont have much experience on talking about factors

Why was i applying factors to the wrong thing? Because i thought factors equaled the thing im trying to buy.

Why? Because i wasnt sure

@Elliot

Other ways to break down price:

• Goes over my budget?
• Need a loan?
• Need a payment plan?
• Feel comfortable paying this much?
• Costs more than my brother’s?

Thinking if u need a loan is smart for the category of price. Ure thinking about the price and about how much money u need and if ull need to use borrowed money.

It seems like an easy thing to overlook factors. Like maybe it’s really automatic for people to decide, but theres gotta be at least one mistake they make when they’re deciding.

[Dface]

@Elliot

Some work. Some fail.

Some initiatives work and some fail.

I think “work” means that they’re done correctly? idk actually

I think “fail” means that the initiative didn’t work like it wasn’t successful like one didn’t see it reach their goal.

I at least know that not all initiatives work. Like, it makes sense that they can sometimes fail.

I see in the quote below about initiatives providing small benefits that it says if the initiatives work correctly, then doing lots of initiatives will only provide a small benefit :

@Elliot

Goldratt says lots of companies do lots of initiatives that, if they work correctly, will only provide a small benefit like 1%.

I think “work correctly” means the initiatives works and it goes as planned.

Since it’s lots of initiatives, they do lots of things, but all those things will provide a small benefit.

@Elliot

Some work at first but fail later because people stop doing it or the situation changes.

Oh ok i think i get that if the situation changes the initiative can fail. Like, the initiative doesn’t apply in certain situations.

I think it will be important to look up initiative. I got something from this site that said:

a new plan or action to improve something or solve a problem

The website said it was from the Cambridge Business English dictionary.

@Elliot

Small improvements, even when they work, can look ineffective to the people doing them, so they get bored and demotivated and eventually stop.

The “can look ineffective” seems like the person doesnt know the initiatives are effective or not. And because they look ineffective, the person moves on and the initiative fails.

@Elliot

Over time, people come up with more improvements or their boss tells them more things to do, and it’s hard to do all of them at once so old ones often get stopped.

Intuitively, that seems like what happens in real life. Like, people will think of new hobbies and drop old ones. They also do new routines and drop old ones

There seems to be a lot of factors that get rid of initiatives.

@Elliot

With stuff that provides a large benefit, workers can usually see the benefit, and the total number of things needed is kept smaller.

The number of things needed for the ‘stuff’ or i think initiative is kept smaller. That’s fine because the large benefit is still present.