Theory of Constraints (TOC)

Biological Parallel

In glycolysis, phosphofructokinase acts as the rate-limiting enzyme—the bottleneck that determines how fast glucose converts to energy, regardless of other enzymes' speed. Liebig's Law of the Minimum shows that plant growth is controlled by the scarcest nutrient (often nitrogen or phosphorus), not the most abundant. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints mirrors this biological principle: system performance is dictated by the weakest link, so optimization efforts anywhere else are wasted energy.