Here is today’s episode of the “Campfire Talks with Herbie”.
TameFlow Community Member: Clarke Ching
Name (and Company/Affiliation if desired)
Clarke Ching - Oddsocks Consulting.
Who are you?
I teach #AgilePlusToc.
Powered by ToC since the 1990s, and Agile since 2003.
Author of The Bottleneck Rules and Rolling Rocks Downhill.
How did you get involved with Agile, Coaching, Organizational Performance? Are you making a living in this sector?
I stumbled across ToC when, in 1997, I read a review of The Goal. It was hard to find … but I managed to track down a copy and become a convert to the Theory of Constraints (TOC. I couldn’t figure out how to apply TOC to software development until, in 2003, while doing my MBA dissertation, I discovered Agile.
Then I got it.
I now teach Agile plus TOC, and provide mentoring to IT leaders.
How did you discover TameFlow? And are you or will you use it professionally?
Met Steve years ago. If my memory serves … Steve read my MBA dissertation on using ToC and Agile together.
Editors Note: picture here depicts Clarke and his best friend. Clarke is keen to point out that he is the one on the left side.
Give us a typical day in your life! And what makes you happy at the end of that day?
I decided, a few years ago, to move to back to New Zealand after 20 years living in Ireland and Scotland. The biggest decision I had to make was whether to live in a big city or live where I do now, Nelson, my home town, which is where my family are, but the face to face work isn’t. I figured that given we have very fast broadband I could try my best to help the entire world! And then … COVID happened and the entire world copied me.
I live in New Zealand, my homeland. I am a creative, not disciplined! I write books. I wander randomly bumping into ideas.
I run AgilePlusToC training sessions from my office, and I do my coaching and mentoring from there too … unless it’s sunny, in which case I often take the calls sitting beside the sea or in a park under a tree.
What’s the most important skills, insight you’ve developed while getting involved with this industry? What were the greatest challenges on your path? And rewards?
Communicating TOC stuff in a way that’s simple. Goldratt was, in his early days, trying to change the world and introduce a brand new idea (or collection of ideas) and he used language that appealed to engineers. That language tends to confuse 21st century folk and put them off.
TOC is a lot simpler than it seems.
What is your TameFlow Community handle or how else can other TameFlow enthusiasts reach out to you?
On the TameFlow Community site you find me as clarkeching1
On LinkedIn you find me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarkeching/
My website is https://www.clarkeching.com/.
Note: In 2010 Clarke interviewed Dr. Eli Goldratt. You can read and listen to this interview on his website. See: Clarke Interviews Eli Goldratt.
What question(s)/topics about TameFlow would you like to propose to Steve?
Why did you put yourself through the torture of writing books?
If you found the topics in the “Campfire Talks with Herbie” interesting, there is much more to learn about them in the Tame your Work Flow, How Dr. Goldratt of “The Goal” would apply the Theory of Constraints to rethink knowledge-work management book.
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