Early Warning for April 1st 
Distant Early Warning Radar has detected an incoming program for
The 1st Thursday in April, 4/1/99
Topic: Theory of Constraints in Project Management
Speaker: Mr. Romey Ross
Technical Project Services
Location: ..Wyndham Garden Hotel 1475 South Colorado Blvd., Denver
Click Here for Map
Time: Social Hour starts at 5:30 p.m.
Reservations: email to: Maria Martinez, [email protected] or
phone (303) 705-5127 by Monday 3/29/99
ABOUT THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER
The following describes Mr. Ross' background, and this month's presentation to the section.
I began my lifelong interest in systems thinking while at Colorado State University in the late 1960s. While there, I worked in the early development of "ecosystem modeling", which required the fusion of mathematics, biology, system dynamics, and computing. Lack of funding, a competing war, a shortage of adequate computer resources, and a nagging feeling that it might be a good idea to know how to make a living, resulted in "postponement of this line of research" - (euphemism for a "big detour"). Along the way I have been a carpenter, general contractor, estimator, scheduler, director of project control systems, project manager, senior project manager, organizational development specialist, senior management consultant, and educator. The "glue" underlying most of my work has been the profession of project management. Always nearby has been my interest in "systems thinking". The two had not fully merged into a powerful new paradigm until four years ago. That was when I really began to absorb, understand, and apply Goldratt's "Theory of Constraints" (TOC) and the "Integrated Thinking Process" (ITP). In conjunction with 28 years of project management experience, for me the circle is beginning to close. Many things that never made sense are now seen in a new light. I have studied many (maybe even most) systems thinking methodologies, but TOC is clearly the most practical and powerful of them all. The exciting thing is, everything has come together to bring us powerful new ways to understand the complex systems which we all have to live and work, and effective new methods are available to us to help us achieve levels of project performance which seemed impossible just a short time ago. My presentation will give you a glimpse into the underlying theories, and more importantly, some of the immediate practical applications that you can begin to use to benefit projects of importance to you.
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