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Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints.: The Quantum Leap in Management
Businessmen and managers, consultancy clients, readers of the Goldratt novels, and workshop attendees often What is this Theory of Constraints? How can it benefit me? How is it different from other management theories? Is there something I can read to quickly understand its fundamentals?This book is an answer to these questions. Using engaging language and offering many real-life examples, it provides an overview of the methods and tools of the Theory of Drum-Buffer-Rope, Buffer Management, Throughput Accounting, Pull Distribution, Irresistible Offer, Corporate Strategy, and Viable Vision. You will learn how to recognize and use constraints, how to complete projects quickly and reliably, and how to gain a competitive lead and to turn it into profit.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 17, 2022
Best introduction and touch up of multiple facets of toc.
May 15, 2016
If you're relatively new to the world of business, Uwe Techt's Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints is a perfect introduction to the theory. First introduced by Goldratt, Israeli physicist-turned-business-management-guru, the theory of constraints explains how any business is limited by one or a few constraints, and must identify those constraints then restructure their business around them.
For those not up to reading Goldratt's 384-page fictional novel The Goal, Techt concisely introduces the topic in a mere 174 business-focused pages. It begins with a quick overview explaining what the theory is and how it can benefit your business, then gets into the nitty-gritty of how to apply it using real-world examples.
It introduces the tools of the theory, such as Drum-Buffer-Rope, Buffer Management, Throughput Accounting, Pull Distribution, Irresistible Offer, Corporate Strategy, and Viable Vision, but helpfully explains what this terminology means for those who are new to the subject. It also helps that the language used is simple and easy to understand.
Not only is the book short enough to provide a quick read, but it's also presented in helpful, bitesize chunks of information that are broken down into plenty of smaller sections with headings. A very comprehensive contents page makes it easy to find what you're looking for and easy to refer back to relevant sections later.
There are some sample calculations to help you understand and calculate throughput, and Techt also makes you answer questions to apply your knowledge, then provides the answers overleaf so you can check whether you have the right understanding. There are visual conflict clouds and reality trees throughout, though I feel I'd need a little help filling these out and applying them to my own business scenario.
Around half of the examples are based around production and stock, such as how to identify a production constraint, how to control stock levels, and how to set marketing value. The other half, and the half I found the most helpful, were related to project management, such as how to avoid projects going on too long, how to manage multiple people/resources trying to multitask on multiple projects, and how to convince people.
For me, some of the most useful parts were the insights that were sitting at the back of my mind that Techt really brought to life, for example, the false paradigms (local cost savings and local optimization) that many businesses rely on and utilize when trying to cut costs or resolve problems. Instead of these false paradigms, Techt provides a simple system to identify the core problems, reach an agreement about them, and resolve them.
If you own or manage a production business and are encountering problems, this book will help you resolve them quickly. If your business is more project-focused, it's a great introduction to the topic, following which you can get a more in-depth exploration in Techt's other book Projects That Flow.
If you're neither a manager nor a business owner, but you see problems in your business that you want to help resolve, or you're an aspiring leader, the book ends with the nice idea that you can only succeed in your business if your leaders understand constraint properly, so it suggests giving this book as a gift to your leaders. Doing so is really likely to influence positive change!
For those not up to reading Goldratt's 384-page fictional novel The Goal, Techt concisely introduces the topic in a mere 174 business-focused pages. It begins with a quick overview explaining what the theory is and how it can benefit your business, then gets into the nitty-gritty of how to apply it using real-world examples.
It introduces the tools of the theory, such as Drum-Buffer-Rope, Buffer Management, Throughput Accounting, Pull Distribution, Irresistible Offer, Corporate Strategy, and Viable Vision, but helpfully explains what this terminology means for those who are new to the subject. It also helps that the language used is simple and easy to understand.
Not only is the book short enough to provide a quick read, but it's also presented in helpful, bitesize chunks of information that are broken down into plenty of smaller sections with headings. A very comprehensive contents page makes it easy to find what you're looking for and easy to refer back to relevant sections later.
There are some sample calculations to help you understand and calculate throughput, and Techt also makes you answer questions to apply your knowledge, then provides the answers overleaf so you can check whether you have the right understanding. There are visual conflict clouds and reality trees throughout, though I feel I'd need a little help filling these out and applying them to my own business scenario.
Around half of the examples are based around production and stock, such as how to identify a production constraint, how to control stock levels, and how to set marketing value. The other half, and the half I found the most helpful, were related to project management, such as how to avoid projects going on too long, how to manage multiple people/resources trying to multitask on multiple projects, and how to convince people.
For me, some of the most useful parts were the insights that were sitting at the back of my mind that Techt really brought to life, for example, the false paradigms (local cost savings and local optimization) that many businesses rely on and utilize when trying to cut costs or resolve problems. Instead of these false paradigms, Techt provides a simple system to identify the core problems, reach an agreement about them, and resolve them.
If you own or manage a production business and are encountering problems, this book will help you resolve them quickly. If your business is more project-focused, it's a great introduction to the topic, following which you can get a more in-depth exploration in Techt's other book Projects That Flow.
If you're neither a manager nor a business owner, but you see problems in your business that you want to help resolve, or you're an aspiring leader, the book ends with the nice idea that you can only succeed in your business if your leaders understand constraint properly, so it suggests giving this book as a gift to your leaders. Doing so is really likely to influence positive change!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews