Beyond Quick Fixes: Using Current Reality Trees to Overcome Software Delivery Challenges

Wednesday 4th June 2025, 6:30 pm.

Speaker: Suzanne Morrison

Venue: Edinburgh Training & Conference Venue, 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU

Refreshments and networking from 6:00 pm.

This event is free of charge and open to all, though registration is required.

Register

Synopsis

"Delivering value early and often” sounds great in theory, but in reality, teams regularly struggle with constant firefighting, context switching, communication breakdowns and unexpected blockers.

Retrospectives and process improvement initiatives can help, but many problems are deeper and more complex, so can’t always be solved through straightforward discussion or brainstorming.

These types of problems are rarely isolated to software teams. They exist within a complex chain of cause and effect that can involve many individuals, teams and departments within an organisation.

This talk will introduce you to a simple but powerful tool from the Theory of Constraints (TOC), called the Current Reality Tree (CRT) to help you visualise the cause and effect of the problems faced by your team or organisation and uncover the root cause(s).

You’ll learn:
• How to build a current reality tree (CRT) to visualise the hidden cause-and-effect chain
• How to identify the root cause(s) of your problems
• How to increase the chances that your improvements will address the root causes
• How to use CRTs to help you gain leadership buy-in for change
• Some practical tips and real-life examples to help you build CRTs effectively

This session is designed for complete beginners, no prior knowledge of TOC is required.

About the speaker