About this Presentation
Assuming that the general goal of government is to improve quality of life—now and in the future—this session examines the persistent constraints that prevent governments from reliably achieving that aim. Operating in environments shaped by limited resources, volatility, uncertainty, competing priorities, and ideological divides, governments face systemic tensions that go beyond day-to-day challenges.
Drawing on the work of government thought leaders who have applied the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to public systems—Kristen Cox, Alan Barnard, and Rami Goldratt—this session uses TOC tools, especially the Evaporating Cloud and the concept of oscillating conflicts, to surface recurring constraints across tactical (service), operational (agency), and strategic (political) levels. Conflict categories, including budget-related tensions, will be explored with a focus on identifying underlying assumptions and proposing injections to dissolve them.
By examining one or two chronic conflicts in depth, this session aims to strengthen the conceptual foundation for applying TOC to governance, clarify systemic constraints, and contribute to a path of deliberate and measurable societal improvement.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
The session shows why many government conflicts persist not because they are unsolvable, but because they are misclassified—leading to the wrong tools, the wrong debates, and the wrong fixes.
It reveals how separating value-based conflicts from structural, procedural, and resource conflicts allows leaders to focus TOC where it delivers the greatest near-term impact.
The presentation illustrates how chronic tensions—such as compliance vs. mission, centralization vs. decentralization, and budget rigidity vs. responsiveness—can be examined without ideology by exposing and testing underlying assumptions.
It emphasizes how governments can escape reform “pendulum swings” by applying POOGI, buffers, and institutional learning instead of repeatedly reorganizing without improving outcomes.
Instructor(s)
Eli Schragenheim
Eli Schragenheim is a well-known international management educator, author and consultant active in various fields of management. He worked with a huge variety of organizations all over the world, including public-sector organizations, industrial, high-tech and start-ups.
Since he had joined Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, the famous creator of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in 1985, Eli Schragenheim had taught, spoke at conferences, and consulted all over the globe.
Eli Schragenheim is the author of several books on various aspects of management. His last book, Throughput Economics – Making Good Management Decisions, together with Henry Camp and Rocco Surace, was published in July 2019.
Eli Schragenheim first book Management Dilemmas (1998) showed a variety of problematic situations in management and the rigorous analysis leading to the right solution. Next he collaborated with William H. Dettmer in writing Manufacturing at Warp Speed. In this book the new concept of Simplified-DBR, now a key concept in production planning according to TOC, was introduced. He collaborated with Carol A. Ptak on ERP, Tools, Techniques, and Applications for Integrating the Supply Chain, and with Dr. Goldratt and Carol Ptak on Necessary but Not Sufficient. In 2009 his book Supply Chain Management at Warp Speed, with William H. Dettmer and Wayne Patterson was published. In March 2015, Eli has opened a blog, now containing more than 140 articles on various topics in TOC that everybody can access.
Alfredo Mycue
Alfredo Mycue is the Co-Founder of ReEngine Consulting, LLC. His firm enables educational institutions and public sector organizations to attain operational excellence through continuous improvement.
Alfredo is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and Airborne Ranger. The major positions he has held include:
• Stryker Infantry Battalion Commander in Baghdad, Iraq
• US Embassy’s Advisor to Korean Army
• Assistant Professor at United States Military Academy at West Point
• Manager of Community Affairs for Texas
• Director of Business Transformation at Texas Workforce Commission for 7 years, functioning as senior Texas government improvement expert
• Director of Strategy, ReEngine Consulting
Alfredo is a graduate of West Point, the Command and General Staff College, holds a Master in Diplomatic History from Tulane University, and has a Master in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, where he now teaches a Government Quality and Improvement course at the Governor’s Center for Management Development. He is a Ph.D. student at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University. He has the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential, is certified as a Theory of Constraint’s Jonah, and is a Master Six Sigma Black-Belt (MSSBB) in efficiency and quality.
Guido Bacharach
Guido Bacharach, Former Head of Strategy and Digitization Unit at the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung in Dortmund. After his university studies he has held predominantly management positions, especially in the sales area and in public services. The focus of his work is on strategic digitization, process improvement, and project management. He is co-founder of the TOCICO SIG “TOC in Government.