Start 2026 with Focus - Lessons from "Reset"

👋 Hello TOC Flow Community!

Happy New Year! I hope you are looking forward to the opportunities ahead and preparing for a great 2026.

I read 40 books in 2025, and one that stood out to me was Dan Heath's new book Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. It reinforces everything we teach about focus and constraints. I highly recommend.

Heath's core message resonates deeply with TOC: You can't change everything. You can't even change most things. But you can change the right thing.

It all starts with the right Goal

Heath asks a question that cuts through the noise of strategic planning: "What's the goal of the goal?"

A car dealership says their goal is "great customer experience." But what they actually measure and reward is survey scores. Result? Employees game the surveys instead of improving service.

Heath calls this Goodhart's Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

Think about your 2026 goals. Are they real goals or just metrics in disguise? Are you measuring what matters, or just what's easy to measure?

💡Reset Aligns with TOC's Five Focusing Steps

What struck me most is how Heath's framework maps perfectly to our Five Focusing Steps:

1. "Target the Constraint" = Identify the Constraint

Heath dedicates an entire chapter to constraints, crediting Goldratt's The Goal. His Chick-fil-A example is perfect: They discovered their drive-thru constraint wasn't food production-it was order-taking. Until they fixed that bottleneck with dual lanes and better communication systems, faster cooking wouldn't help.

You must identify the actual constraint, not just work on what's visible or familiar.

2. "Restack Resources" = Exploit and Subordinate

Once you've found your constraint, Heath advocates "restacking"-moving resources from non-constraints to support the constraint. This is pure TOC: exploit what you have before adding more.

He shows how organizations waste resources on areas that don't matter while starving the constraint. Sound familiar? It's exactly what happens when we optimize locally instead of globally.

3. "Do Less AND More" = Elevate

Heath's insight: Do less of what doesn't help the constraint, and more of what does. He uses an example of customer service-some customers need intensive support (under-served), while others get attention they don't need (over-served).

This is elevation through focus. Not just throwing resources at the problem, but intelligently restructuring how you work.

4. Constraint Shifts = Return to Step 1

Heath emphasizes that when you fix one constraint, another emerges. At Chick-fil-A, once they fixed order-taking, the constraint moved to food preparation. That's when their kitchen improvements finally mattered.

The constraint will move. Your ability to recognize and adapt to that move determines your continued success.

💥A Practical Approach: Start with a Burst

Here's where Heath offers practical wisdom for your 2026 planning: "People like finishing more than they like starting."

His research shows that visible, early progress builds momentum for bigger changes. Don't plan a year-long transformation. Plan a 90-day burst that attacks your constraint and shows results.

💪Your 2026 Challenge:

  1.  Identify your ONE constraint for Q1

  2.  Restack your resources to support it

  3.  Create a 90-day sprint with visible milestones

  4.  Use early wins to fuel the next phase

Remember: One focused change on your constraint beats a hundred improvements in the wrong places.

Let's make 2026 the year we stop trying to change everything and start changing the right thing.

Ready to focus your efforts where they matter? Reach out if you want to discuss

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