The Goal, Third Revised Edition (Goldratt, Cox, 2004)

From Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing, readable business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the reader; and thankfully the authors' economic models, including a game with match sticks and bowls, are easy to understand. Although some characters are as anonymous as the goods manufactured in the factory, others ring true. In addition, the tender story of Alex and his wife's separation and reconciliation makes a touching contrast to the rest of the book. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the state of the American economy.

From Library Journal
Alex Rogo manages a failing manufacturing plant, and his marriage is on shaky ground due to his long work hours. When his district manager tells him that profits must increase or the plant will be closed, Alex realizes he needs help. He turns to Jonah, a former professor, whom Alex discovers is now a management consultant (although Jonah's field is physics). With the help of the enigmatic Jonah and the plant staff, Alex turns the plant around while at the same time abandoning many management principles he previously thought were ironclad. This multivoiced presentation is lively and interesting and offers food for thought for managers in any field. The performances are natural and unaffected, with sound effects to enhance the illusion of reality. Although it is a novel, this title is more appropriate for business collections.
- Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, N.C.

JLJ - Goldratt introduced his Theory of Constraints concepts in this work, which tells the story of a plant manager as he struggles to fix his inefficiently-run manufacturing plant and his broken marriage.

introduction The secret of being a good scientist, I believe, lies not in our brain power. We have enough. We simply need to look at reality and think logically and precisely about what we see. The key ingredient is to have the courage to face inconsistencies between what we see and deduce and the way things are done. This challenging of basic assumptions is essential to breakthroughs... Progress in understanding requires that we challenge basic assumptions about how the world is and why it is that way.

p.31 "Alex, if you're like nearly everybody else in this world, you've accepted so many things without question that you're not thinking at all," says Jonah.

p.32 "When you are productive you are accomplishing something in terms of your goal, right?"

"Right," I say...

"Alex, I have come to the conclusion that productivity is the act of bringing a company closer to its goal. Every action that brings a company closer to its goal is productive. Every action that does not bring a company closer to its goal is not productive..."

p.45 "Suppose you're going to rewrite the textbooks. Suppose you don't have all those terms and you have to make them up as you go along. What would be the minimum number of measurements you would need in order to know if we were making money?"

p.59 [Alex to Jonah] So how can I know whether what's happening in my plant is truly productive or non-productive?" I ask.

p.117 "Listen, if you guys [boyscout troop] want to go faster, then you have to figure out a way to let Herbie [the slowest hiker] go faster," I tell them.

p.139, 140 "A bottleneck," Jonah continues, "is any resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the demand placed upon it. And a non-bottleneck is any resource whose capacity is greater than the demand placed on it... bottlenecks are not necessarily bad - or good... they are simply a reality."

p.143 "Can't we come up with some other faster way to isolate the bottleneck - or at least identify the candidates?"

p.150, 152, 157, 158 "you have to learn how to run your plant by its constraints... To increase the capacity of the plant is to increase the capacity of only the bottlenecks... The bottlenecks stay bottlenecks. What we must do is find enough capacity for the bottlenecks to become more equal to demand... I want to be absolutely sure you understand the importance of the bottlenecks... What you have learned is that the capacity of the plant is equal to the capacity of its bottlenecks"

p.165 "Nothing is more important to us right now than making the bottlenecks more productive..."

p.274 We need financial measurements for sure - but we don't need them for their own sake. We need them for two different reasons. One is control; knowing to what extent a company is achieving its goal of making money. The other reason is probably even more important; measurements should induce the parts [of an organization] to do what's good for the organization as a whole.

p.307 five-step process...

1. IDENTIFY the system's constraint(s).

2. Decide how to EXPLOIT the system's constraint(s).

3. SUBORDINATE everything else to the above decision.

4. ELEVATE the system's constraint(s).

5. WARNING!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow INERTIA to cause a system's constraint.

p.355 [Eli Goldratt quoted] TOC [Theory of Constraints] is built on the realization that every complex environment/ system is based on inherent simplicity and the best way to manage, control and improve the system is by capitalizing on this inherent simplicity. That's why the constraints are the leverage points. That's why the five focusing steps are so powerful. But, what we have to bear in mind is that such an approach is a major paradigm shift. And people will do almost anything before they will shift their paradigm.

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