Goldratt talks us through the process of finding the constraints in your system (the bottlenecks - in this case, specific machines in the manufacturing process whose speed limits the others), creating practical solutions for easing the load on those constraints, and then building a secure and consistent environment where you can continually improve without jeopardising the flow. The principles of “we’ve always done it this way” and “everybody else does it this way”, though illogical, can be scary to break with. Goldratt underlines the challenge that we can all have with questioning accepted principles.
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Similarly, despite Rogo and the team eventually demonstrating their increased profits, management is initially wary of accepting the new measurements and tactics as more than a “freak phenomenon” that will ultimately crash and burn. As you can see from the above example, though the metrics the business used to measure success are clearly not having the desired effect (the plant is losing money and might be closed soon), the team is extremely reluctant to change them. Using common sense over common practice.By asking Rogo to think about the business’s ultimate goal (making money) Jonah helps him redefine the metrics that are really important to his plant (throughout, inventory and operational expense). In fact, the wonderful robots that they have installed (which are very efficient) have actually harmed their ability to make money. However, we soon realise that despite those stats painting a rosy picture, the plant isn’t making any profit. Initially, management’s KPIs for the plant are based around increasing efficiencies and lowering cost per product. This consultant character is used to provide us with some explicit learning and advice, for example: It’s worth nothing that Goldratt himself was a scientist and philosopher, and the book brings scientific and philosophical logic and arguments in many times - particularly when thinking about balancing systems, and finding arguments to persuade teams to move forwards with their leader. Explicit lessonsĪs our protagonist Rogo struggles to see a way forward for his plant, he turns to a business consultant (and physicist) Jonah. Here, we can closely follow the story of Alex Rogo, manufacturing plant manager, as he navigates the day by day rejuvenation of his failing plant through implementing Lean manufacturing techniques and in particular the “Theory of Constraints” (which Goldratt developed).
#THE GOAL ELIYAHU GOLDRATT HOW TO#
Typically in a theory-based business book, you’re given tactics and approaches but left to figure out how to actually apply them day to day and there can consequently be many gaps and questions. Aside from making it very readable, this style contextualises the business theory into a real world scenario, and brings to life the daily frustrations, thoughts and feelings of the workers.
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One of the standout features of the book is that it’s written in the style of a thriller novel (complete with typical narrative tropes of conflict and resolution - the protagonist is fighting to fix his family life as well as his business!).
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I wanted to pass on this awesome recommendation and share some thoughts about why I loved this book so much and what it can teach you if you invest the time to read it. Happy Friday! The subject of today’s book is “The Goal” by Dr Eliyahu Goldratt, which was recommended to me by an old colleague (thanks Michael - it was really great!).