The Law of the Limiting Reagent

Have you heard of the Law of the Limiting Reagent?

Well, if you are a Member of the Blue Elevator™ Group, I hope you have.  Or, maybe you learned this concept as a chemistry student.  And, for sure if you were blessed to receive instruction from chemistry teacher Mrs. Connie Grosse at El Dorado High School in Placentia, California.

And, that’s where I first heard it.  In 1983.  For me, chemistry wasn’t the easiest of courses.  But, thank God, “The Law of the Limiting Reagent” made good sense to me.

The Law of the Limiting Reagent – At Work

Example 1

If you’re lost in the woods, and it’s cold, would you like a fire to warm you?  You could be surrounded by plenty of pine needles, small branches, and dead wood.  And, hopefully, oxygen is plentiful.  You just need a spark.  To make fire, you need fuel, oxygen, and just a spark to start it all.  But if you can’t produce a spark, then you don’t have fire.  In this case, a spark is the limiting reagent.

Example 2

Let’s say you and some friends want to play baseball.  So, everyone agrees to meet up at the local park at 3:00 pm.  People begin to arrive.  Everyone has their gloves.  And, a few people brought bats.  But, as luck would have it, no one brought a baseball.  No baseball means no baseball.  In this case, the baseball is the limiting reagent.

Example 3

Let’s say you want to make chocolate chip cookies.  So, you get out the recipe.  And, then you go through the kitchen gathering everything you need.  Flour, sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and nuts.  Yep.  You have all of that.  Now, the eggs.  Eggs?  You go back to the fridge and realize you don’t have eggs.  No eggs?  No chocolate chip cookies.  Eggs are your limiting reagent.

Get It?

Make sense?  This is the Law of the Limiting Reagent at work.

The technical definition goes something like this:

The limiting reagent in a chemical reaction is the substance that is totally consumed when the chemical reaction is complete.  Therefore, the amount of the product produced is “limited” by this reagent (or ingredient) as the reaction cannot continue without it.

In the examples above, I exaggerated things to show the complete absence of a key ingredient.  In life and business, this may also occur.  But, it also applies if you just don’t have enough of something.

For instance, in the chocolate chip cookie example, let’s assume that you found 1 egg in the fridge.  And, let’s assume you had enough of the other key ingredients to make 2 dozen cookies.  But, the recipe for 2 dozen cookies called for 2 eggs.  Then it stands to reason you could only make 1 dozen if you had only 1 egg.

Okay, so what do fire, baseball, and chocolate chip cookies all have to do with business?

Nothing.  Yet, everything.

The Business Takeaway

By default, your business or organization is headed towards – or is on – a plateau.  And, this plateau occurs because something is “limiting” the organization’s growth.

As my friend and Pastor CW Perry used to summarize things, we all have time, talent, and treasure to contribute.  God willing, you will get as far as your time, talent, and treasure will take you.  But, then what?

• Are you and your organization currently on a plateau?
• What is limiting your continued growth?
• And, what do you need to continue to scale?

What is Your Limiting Reagent?

God willing, the goal is to continually scale.  And, scaling is just repeatable growth.  The challenge in business is that each level can present different challenges.

This means that each level has its own challenges.  And, therefore, each level may have its own limiting reagent(s).

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” – Proverbs 15:22

Do you have skilled and trusted advisors working with you and your organization?  Contact us!