The Goal

a process of ongoing improvement

Paperback, 384 pages

English language

Published July 11, 2004 by North River Press.

ISBN:
978-0-88427-178-9
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4 stars (31 reviews)

The Goal is about new global principles of manufacturing. It's about people trying to understand what makes their world tick so that they can make it better. As they think logically and consistently about their problems they are able to determine "cause and effect" relationships between their actions and the results. In the process they deduce some basic principles which they use to save their plant and make it successful. Used by thousands of companies and hundreds of business schools, this book is required reading for anyone interested in the Theory of Constraints. This book, which introduces the Theory of Constraints, is changing how America does business. The Goal is a gripping, fast-paced business novel about overcoming the barriers to making money. You will learn the fundamentals of identifying and solving the problems created by constraints. From the moment you finish the book you will be able to start successfully …

14 editions

Fantastic look at work production processes

5 stars

I shouldn't have hesitated so long in reading this. I'm in management of software production activities, and loved Phoenix and unicorn project, and this is a look at the philosophy that drove those philosophies. After this it is so clear why waterfall software production methods are so problematic. It's counter intuitive, until you look at it from a factory perspective. In waterfall you stack a huge amount of inventory up. Stack stack stack. The first boy scout runs down the trail as far as he can go. Maybe all the way to what he thinks is the end of the hike. Then he sits down and waits. Then the next boy gets to walk the trail, the tester, and you're lucky if you only need one go at this, often you need to have three of these folks, each waiting on the previous to get to the end before they …

Review of 'The Goal' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Superb!
And I was sure Gene Kim's Phoenix was original.
Well, if you liked it - you will definitely find The Goal very thought-provoking without cheesy scrum examples.
I liked it a lot; it reads like a novel with some serious call in there - done with a goal in mind, every enterprise has a chance to succeed with new & ongoing initiatives.

I haven't read a compelling management book in years; I think the last one was written by Lacoca on his career. Other than that it is difficult to find something useful these days.

An interesting way to present business principles, but an uninteresting novel in its own right

2 stars

This is a business book in the form of a novel. A middle-manager at a plan manufacturing goods of unknown sort (never named widgets, but may as well be) finds himself on a journey to revolutionize plant management based on the guidance of a Mr. Miyagi-like academic. In doing so, he also saves his marriage and rises to corporate success.

Ultimately, it is a parable about Toyota's revolutionary manufacturing processes, and the appendix of the book breaks this down into a more concise fashion than the rambling novelization.

The underlying principles are sound, however, and the concept of breaking down manufacturing into simple core processes rather than abstract KPIs is sound.

An innovative way to present business principles, maybe, but not a page turner. Would likely be more interesting for business majors than experienced business people.

Review of 'The Goal' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars



Just want to say it was a gripping read. A rare thing to say about a business/management book. I’m almost never interested in the facts spitted out in most books - even science books. Tell me how you arrived at that.

Of all the things I could learn from this book, I learnt for the first time in my life the periodic nature of the periodic table. It clicked because the author was inquisitive - “how do we find order from seemingly random things?” And the quest for “intrinsic order”.

The dialog/conversational way of delivering a concept - the Socratic way - is long and winding for some people but information sticks. Precisely because the information isn’t provided in a platter. Allegories and analogies when done right helps you understand a concept quite well and I think this book did it quite well.

Review of 'The Goal' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Eli Goldratt & Jeff Cox brings to the business world, what Albert Einstein brought to Physics. In his book the character of Alex learns about the Theory of Constraints from his mentor 'Jonah'. Through a series of events (and stresses) in Alex's life, he carefully examines the ongoing processes within the fictional company of Unico and to what extent these processes meet 'The Goal'.

This was my first business novel, and it is what lead me to many other business novels down the road..sort of the 'gateway drug' of the business novel.

You can read more at blog.geekwisdom.org/p/book-notes-goal-process-of-ongoing.html

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Subjects

  • Structural Adjustment
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Didactic fiction
  • Fiction
  • Business / Economics / Finance
  • Business/Economics
  • Production & Operations Management
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  • Business
  • Manufacturing industries
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