About this Presentation
Many see the TOC contribution to project management as Critical Chain scheduling and execution management. This presentation discussed what else TOC can bring to the field of project management, and vice-versa.
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.
How TOC project management extends beyond Critical Chain. Learn about alternative TOC approaches and tools (e.g., logical thinking, buffers, constraint exploitation) that support project success in contexts where traditional CCPM alone isn’t sufficient.
Why focusing on system constraints and cause-and-effect yields better outcomes
Understand how TOC principles help diagnose and solve persistent project issues — like scope creep, conflicting priorities, and unclear accountability — by targeting root causes rather than symptoms.
Practical TOC methods to improve planning, execution, and delivery
Gain insight into specific TOC practices (such as buffer management adaptations, dependency handling, and flow optimization) that can be applied even when Critical Chain isn’t fully adopted.
Instructor(s)
Ian Heptinstall
Ian is an Associate Professor of Project Management at the University of Birmingham (UK).
He is a late-career academic, joining the University after 35 years of working in project management, procurement and management consulting.
His project & procurement experience primarily in the capex, construction & engineering fields.
He has been a regular TOCICO Conference attendee since 2011, and in 2020 he helped set up the annual Critical Chain virtual conference, to share CC real world experience with project management practitioners who have little or no knowledge of TOC or critical chain.
In 2016 he published “The Executive Guide to Breakthrough Project Management” about overcoming obstacles to using critical chain on capital/construction projects, in collaboration with Robert Bolton, and he supported Rene Nibbelke in producing the APM’s “Senior Managers’ and Project Managers’ Guide to Critical Chain” (2024