
"Through put" might be a term that is more commonly used when referring to a manufacturing plant, it is often used to describe the rate of flow of inputs (energy) materials, labor etc. in a plant to produce a product. The management Theory of Constraints looks for bottlenecks or constraints in the flow rate of a manufacturing plant in order to improve the efficiencies in those areas which will improve the overall performance of the plant output. If we apply this theory to energy within an organization we can find a usable model for identifying bottlenecks in teamwork, communication and collaboration flow rates among people. If it takes more energy to get one team moving on a project than another you know that the first team is a source of energy constraint. Your business is only as good as its weakest link so it pays to find those weak links or constraints and work to make them more energy efficient so that the whole business can produce more. Watch where energy flows through people and teams and where it gets stuck and dies. If you have a good high-energy person or team you'll notice that people who are connected that person or team are more animated (they come to life). If energy is flowing freely and unconstrained people will feel to talk and contribute in a meeting and they will usually be much more excited about contributing on the job. On the other hand if you see people shutting down and not contributing then you know you have an electrical short (your energy is being lost in a black hole of space) you have a de-energizing force in the room and these constrainers of energy are actually the bottlenecks that will slow down the energy throughput and profitability of the entire business. That is where you need to go to work innovating with people!