How the ONE THING Focusing Cycle Helped Break a World Record
Twenty-five years ago, Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand achieved the seemingly impossible.
Building a fully furnished 3-bedroom home in just 3 hrs, 45 min smashing the previous world record.
Their secret?
Focused innovation through the application of Theory of Constraints’ Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) method.
I think it is a great example of how the “ONE-THING FOCUSING METHOD”, intuitively used by Elon Musk and other highly productive leaders and innovators, can be applied even to a system with a “for-purpose” goal.
I formulated this method into 6 steps to maintain the ONE-THING focus.
Practically applying the ONE THING Focusing Cycle
Here’s how the NZ team, lead by CCPM expert John Parr applied the ONE THING Focusing Cycle to break the home building world speed record:
1. ONE GOAL:
Break the world record of 4 hrs, 35 min
2. ONE CONSTRAINT:
The constraint was a flow time, not a flow rate (throughput) constraint — specifically the constraint was the critical chain - the longest path of dependent tasks after considering capacity.
3. ONE PROBLEM:
The first ONE problem was the task that contributed the biggest delay on the critical chain. It was erecting the walls. Solving this ONE problem became the first priority.
4. ONE CONFLICT:
To solve this problem, they had to resolve the conflict of “Use a new construction method to increase speed” vs. “Stick with the status quo to ensure safety and quality”.
5. ONE INNOVATION:
They developed a breakthrough solution without trade-offs to the conflict – a faster, safer and better wall-assembly method.
6. ONE EXPERIMENT:
After testing the innovation, they applied it successfully
Then the team simply repeated the cycle until they achieved the goal (at least on paper).
The ONE Goal and ONE Constraint remained the same, but for each cycle there was a different ONE PROBLEM to shorten the critical chain.
E.g to avoid congestion inside, the innovation was a “One-Trade-One-Room” rule.
After many cycles, the Critical chain was shortened to just 2 hrs, 45 min.
They added a 45-min project buffer, setting a plan of 3 hrs, 30 min.
They finished in 3 hrs, 44 min, 59 sec — slightly longer than planned but still an incredible 50 minutes faster than the previous record!
Lessons in FOCUS
This achievement shows the power of:
• Clarity of purpose: Align everyone around ONE goal.
• Constraint-driven problem-solving: Focus on what limits progress.
• Innovation and experimentation: Challenge assumptions and test ideas.
• Buffer management: Plan for uncertainty but keep pushing forward.
Whether in life, business, or projects, the ONE THING Focusing Cycle helps you achieve extraordinary results.
Focus on one goal, one constraint, one problem, one conflict, one innovation, and one experiment—then repeat.
Looking forward to your questions/comments …
