Categories of Legitimate Reservation (CLR)

 

The Categories of Legitimate Reservation (CLR) is a tool used in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) Thinking Processes to evaluate the validity of logical reasoning. 

It provides a framework for identifying flaws in cause-and-effect relationships and ensures the conclusions we draw are based on solid reasoning.

The Eight CLRs and Simple Examples

1. Clarity:

○ Question: Is the statement clear and understandable?

○ Daily Example: "You never help around the house." → What specifically do you mean by "never"?

○ Business Example: "Our team lacks motivation." → What behavior indicates a lack of motivation?

2. Entity Existence:

○ Question: Do the entities in the statement exist in reality?

○ Daily Example: "Everyone thinks I’m bad at sports." → Who exactly is "everyone"?

○ Business Example: "Customers hate the new product." → Do we have evidence from customer feedback?

3. Causality Existence:

○ Question: Does the cause actually lead to the stated effect?

○ Daily Example: "If I don’t exercise today, I’ll gain weight." → Does missing one day of exercise directly cause weight gain?

○ Business Example: "Our revenue dropped because of poor advertising." → Is there evidence linking poor advertising to revenue decline?

4. Cause-Effect Reversal:

○ Question: Could the cause and effect be reversed?

○ Daily Example: "I’m sad because it’s raining." → Could it be that you notice the rain more when you’re already sad?

○ Business Example: "Employee turnover is high because morale is low." → Could morale be low because turnover is high?

5. Additional Cause:

○ Question: Could there be other causes for the stated effect?

○ Daily Example: "I was late because of traffic." → Could you also have left home late?

○ Business Example: "The project failed because of poor planning." → Could other factors, like resource shortages, have contributed?

6. Predicted Effect Existence:

○ Question: Does the predicted effect actually occur?

○ Daily Example: "If I apologize, they’ll forgive me." → Did they actually forgive you after the apology?

○ Business Example: "If we lower prices, sales will increase." → Did sales increase after lowering prices?

7. Tautology:

○ Question: Is the statement circular and explaining itself without evidence?

○ Daily Example: "I’m right because I know I’m right." → No evidence supports this claim.

○ Business Example: "The strategy will work because it’s the right strategy." → Why is it the right strategy?

8. Logical Entanglement:

○ Question: Are unrelated ideas being connected without reason?

○ Daily Example: "If I fail this test, my whole life will be ruined." → Failing one test doesn’t necessarily ruin a life.

○ Business Example: "If we don’t launch this product, we’ll lose our market leadership." → Is there evidence to connect the launch to market leadership?

Common Mistakes People Make by Ignoring CLR

1. Ignoring Evidence (Entity Existence):

○ Mistake: Making claims without verifying they are true.

○ Example: "Everyone is quitting because they hate the manager." → Did anyone explicitly say this?

2. Assuming One Cause (Additional Cause):

○ Mistake: Believing there’s only one reason for a problem.

○ Example: "The cake didn’t rise because the oven was too cool." → Was the recipe followed correctly?

3. Reversing Cause and Effect (Cause-Effect Reversal):

○ Mistake: Mixing up the direction of causality.

○ Example: "The house is messy because everyone is stressed." → Could stress result from the mess?

4. Vague Statements (Clarity):

○ Mistake: Using ambiguous language.

○ Example: "You’re so irresponsible." → What specific action is irresponsible?

5. Unverified Predictions (Predicted Effect Existence):

○ Mistake: Assuming future effects will happen without evidence.

○ Example: "If I study all night, I’ll ace the test." → Lack of sleep might negatively affect performance.

Conversation Starters for Using CLR

• Clarity: “What do you mean by that? Can you give an example?”

• Entity Existence: “Do we have data to confirm this is true?”

• Causality Existence: “How do we know this cause leads to that effect?”

• Cause-Effect Reversal: “Could this be happening the other way around?”

• Additional Cause: “Could there be other reasons why this is happening?”

• Predicted Effect Existence: “Has this effect actually occurred in the past?”

• Tautology: “Can we explain this with more than just restating the same point?”

• Logical Entanglement: “Are these two ideas truly connected?”