Most organizations (established or new) tend to optimize processes locally using different metrics which possibly effect an improvement of the process. Because that optimization is based on an 'objective' defined by the management, the person in charge of that process optimization is awarded because he/she helped in either reducing cost/time etc. But the point is has that optimization really help the company as a whole?

Local optimization in either production environment or service is a characteristic of most organizations. Since Foresster came out with the 'Systems dynamics' approach (where all processes are in feedback loops), many authors/researchers have started looking at a global perspective. One such researcher and educator is Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt. His approach is radical to say the least. His view is markedly different from other streams as he says that there is an 'inherent simplicity' in all environments and that this simplicity is the CONSTRAINT of the organization. Break the constraint and improve the 'throughput performance'. A excellent book he has authored is 'THE GOAL' written as a fictional novel. His approach is also known as Theory of Constraints and are changing many organizations across the globe.

Another researcher with such a systems approach was the late Dr. Elliot Jacques, who brought the concept of the 'Requisite Organization'. An organization should neither flat nor steep but somewhere in between. And managers or leaders need certain logical thinking processes to understand what really happens in their environment.

Both these researchers are critical thinkers who implemented the global optima approaches.