Using Theory of Constraints (TOC) in project risk management

The classic tools of project risk management – such as the risk register, creativity tools, cause-event-effect syntax, etc. – contribute their share to the project manager's effectiveness: capacity for anticipation, immediate capitalization of experience, communication to the team.

They are notoriously inadequate and even misleading for :

• account for complex situations in which risks and opportunities from different families or categories are intertwined;

• generate robust responses or countermeasures, validated by all.

This fact sheet shows how the collective reflection graphs of the theory of constraints (Current Reality Tree [CRT], Future Reality Tree [FRT], Prerequisite Tree [PRT], Transition Tree [TRT]) can be used to facilitate risk management sessions.

Generating opportunities or securing objectives is particularly emphasized.