Simon White
Chairman of TOCICO and Senior Program Manager at WTG
Simon White
Chairman of TOCICO and Senior Program Manager at WTG
Simon White is Chairman of the Board at TOCICO (Theory of Constraints International Certification Organisation) and has spent over 20 years improving throughput in large-scale, complex defence systems operating in high-performance environments.
His work has focused on applying systems thinking and the Theory of Constraints to increase organisational performance by identifying and managing systemic constraints rather than optimising local components.
Now working within the technology sector at WiseTech Global, Simon applies these principles to modern product and development organisations, helping technology leaders shift from activity-driven management to flow-based system optimisation. He specialises in translating rigorous systems theory into practical leadership mechanisms that measurably improve delivery capability.
Upcoming conference sessions featuring Simon White
Your Teams Aren’t the Problem — Your System Is: Why Most Software Leaders Optimise the Wrong Things
When delivery slows down, most technology leaders respond the same way: add people (or AI Agents), restructure teams, improve tooling, or introduce a new framework. Activity increases. Meetings increase. Reporting increases. Throughput often doesn’t.
The uncomfortable truth is this: in a complex system, optimising teams does not optimise the system.
For over 20 years, I’ve applied Theory of Constraints (ToC) to large-scale, high-stakes defence systems where improving the wrong thing had real consequences. The same systemic laws govern software organisations today. At any point in time, a single constraint determines your organisation’s throughput. Everything else is noise. Improving non-constraints may create the appearance of productivity, but it will not increase outcomes.
In this session, I’ll challenge several common leadership assumptions:
- Why utilisation is often the enemy of flow
- Why adding capacity frequently reduces throughput
- Why reorganisations rarely solve systemic delay
- Why your constraint may not be where you think it is
We will explore a practical, leadership-level application of the Five Focusing Steps to product and engineering systems — including constraints created by architecture, governance, decision latency, and executive behaviour. You’ll leave with a disciplined framework for improving throughput without defaulting to headcount changes, restructures, or tooling initiatives.
If you’re responsible for delivery performance, this session will help you stop optimising parts — and start improving the system.
Get conference pass
Your Teams Aren’t the Problem — Your System Is: Why Most Software Leaders Optimise the Wrong Things
When delivery slows down, most technology leaders respond the same way: add people (or AI Agents), restructure teams, improve tooling, or introduce a new framework. Activity increases. Meetings increase. Reporting increases. Throughput often doesn’t.
The uncomfortable truth is this: in a complex system, optimising teams does not optimise the system.
For over 20 years, I’ve applied Theory of Constraints (ToC) to large-scale, high-stakes defence systems where improving the wrong thing had real consequences. The same systemic laws govern software organisations today. At any point in time, a single constraint determines your organisation’s throughput. Everything else is noise. Improving non-constraints may create the appearance of productivity, but it will not increase outcomes.
In this session, I’ll challenge several common leadership assumptions:
- Why utilisation is often the enemy of flow
- Why adding capacity frequently reduces throughput
- Why reorganisations rarely solve systemic delay
- Why your constraint may not be where you think it is
We will explore a practical, leadership-level application of the Five Focusing Steps to product and engineering systems — including constraints created by architecture, governance, decision latency, and executive behaviour. You’ll leave with a disciplined framework for improving throughput without defaulting to headcount changes, restructures, or tooling initiatives.
If you’re responsible for delivery performance, this session will help you stop optimising parts — and start improving the system.
Get conference pass
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