The goal
by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox, Ensemble cast, Dwight Jon Zimmerman · first published 1986
70% recommend26% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Novel about a factory that teaches Theory of Constraints: improve the system's bottleneck, not local efficiency. Readable and quick; useful for engineers, managers and startup folks, and as a DevOps/Agile background.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Alex Rogo is the manager of a failing manufacturing plant who receives an ultimatum from corporate headquarters: Turn the situation around in three months or the plant will be scrapped. With help from a mysterious mentor, Rogo discovers a revolutionary new way to do business—a way for people in any field of endeavor to increase productivity, profitability, and personal fulfillment. A business book disguised as a novel, a love story about the manufacturing process, and an exhilarating adventure in human potential, The Goal is changing how America does business. First published in 1984, it be
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Why isn't the solution to put empty containers back on unloaded ships to be sent away? BTW for fun reading on operations logistics and identifying and attacking bottlenecks see "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_%28novel%29
on “Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis” ↗Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson - amazing book about US criminal justice system. Read it. The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt - a management novel. Oddly engrossing and educational at the same time The Everything Store by Brad Stone - about Amazon's history, culture, businesses (None of these books was…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗If anyone wants a much more in-depth look at the concepts behind this, I can't recommend "The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt enough. It's a bit like The Phoenix Project, in that it's a novel about improving flow in delivery processes, but it's much, much better, and goes into way more practical depth.…
on “Limiting Work in Progress (2020)” ↗…a new idea. For anyone interested in 'systems thinking' and associated optimisations, check out the 'Implementing Lean' book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Implementing-Lean-Software-Developme... Or The Goal for something slightly different: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement... I have to say, there's way more wisdom in the more mature 'lean' world than there is in the trendier…
on “Software Inventory by Joel Spolsky” ↗Read 'The Goal' by Eli Goldratt - one of the best supply chain books ever written.
on “Ask HN: How to self study management, especially supply chain management?” ↗FWIW, "The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement" by Eli Goldratt, almost certainly was the inspiration for The Phoenix Project, and is IMHO a better read. One could follow up with any of Goldratt's other books for…
on “Ask HN: Books you should have read when you start a career in SE / CS?” ↗I think it is more like him giving me the book The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt (which was great and opened my eyes a lot) and me returning the gesture. On the other thing - I've just 2.5x-ed the sales now but we are working out together how to scale production.…
on “Ask HN: Texts to share with my co-founder re time-management and teamwork?” ↗The most famous book to discuss this idea is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt, published in the days when American manufacturing was trying to compete with Japanese methods. That book inspired The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and others, which applied the ideas…
on “Efficiency Is the Enemy” ↗The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is pretty good. It is a business fiction book, so although it is not about startups, it applies well to start ups. http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/08...…
on “Ask HN: Fictional books related to startups?” ↗I have found "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt to be very insightful. It is written in a novel like format, with the purpose of teaching a certain way of attacking problems. http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/08...
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗…article really resonates with me. To anyone wondering, "How could this possibly be true? How could so many companies be getting the hiring process so wrong?" I say: it's because they aren't focused on the goal. That doens't mean companies never achieve their goals, they are simply optimizing the wrong aspects of the process. For anyone interested, the book The Goal by Eli Goldratt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel))…
on “Interviews Can Be a Terrible Way to Identify Good Programmers” ↗The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt. It's a great book on manufacturing clothed in a fictional story.
on “Ask HN: Fiction books that entertain and educate?” ↗…can only recommend the ones I have read and found of value: [1] Crossing the chasm (Marketing related) [2] Peopleware (HR related) [3] How to win friends and influence people (HR related) [4] The Goal (Business related) [5] Critical chain (Project management related) [6] Who moved my cheese (Change management related) and any of the lean / agile businessy books for ex. [7] The lean startup These…
on “Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech” ↗"The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt, while set in a traditional manufacturing world, does a great job in clarifying the role of constraints in any team effort. It's written in the form of a novel. It is not perfect.…
on “Ask HN: Non-tech books that have helped you grow professionally?” ↗I really like the theory of constraints, as espoused in books like The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. It's more of a philosophy than a set of tactics, but I've found that it applies quite well to any process that involves projects having to pass through multiple teams in order to…
on “Ask HN: Best project management practices in 2018?” ↗