There Is Only One Bottleneck

Imagine you're at a busy grocery store with only one open checkout lane. Customers line up, and the queue snakes around the store. More shoppers stream in, hoping to pick up items for dinner. As the line grows, average wait times increase and emotions start to bubble over for those standing in line. Instead of opening another checkout lane, employees are busy with other tasks. Some staff are stocking shelves and cleaning, while others are taking inventory in the canned goods and spices aisle. Meanwhile, the store has devolved into chaos.

It's obvious to everyone except the staff that more checkout lines need to be opened. Surprisingly, when working on large projects or personal growth, people often ignore bottlenecks and take a scattered approach. This may be because they haven't identified the bottleneck or because they're avoiding work they don't want to do. It's remarkably common for people to focus their efforts on what they want to do rather than addressing the issue that's holdin…