The Goal A Process of Ongoing Improvement

Yes, there’s a dreadful personal storyline, with stiff characters seemingly flown in from Atlas Shrugged. And yes, it’s a business book written in that dreadful narrative style. Yet, for anyone interested in business process improvement, or the intellectual history behind Agile/Lean/Kanban software development, this classic sets out the theory of constraints in an imaginative, engaging method. Recommended.

When theory and practice are indistinguishable from each other. Brilliant. What to say about The Goal that has not already been said. The Goal is a unique book of its kind. I have seen it quoted in so many books that for as long I can remember, it has always been waiting on my reading list ... for almost ten years. I was not inspired by the book cover even if the content is probably the best example of a nonfiction novel. To be honest, I’m glad not all fiction books use this style. But I have to admit this writing style is incredibly effective as a learning tool. This method, known as the Socratic Method, uses dialogues between individuals, asking and answering questions that stimulate critical thinking. We learn about solutions after being confronted with the problems. Since learning is basically an association process, this way of teaching is particularly relevant to convey subtle ideas that may challenge our common sense. The book is the perfect example of what learning from experience means. It turns stories into learning opportunities, and since we, humans, are creatures of stories, we love to learn in this way. In addition, the novel format allows for repetitions of key insights, each time reformulated differently, and in a different context to make their application crystal clear. Moreover, I should outline The Goal is one of the rare books that succeeded in keeping me awake when commuting. I read a large portion of this book after waiting for my delayed train for two long hours. I was cold, I just wanted to go home, and under such circumstances, I usually stop after a few pages. But not that night. The Goal had totally captivated my attention. But The Goal is not new, neither are its ideas. So should you read this book several decades after its original publication? Definitely yes! Not because it’s a classic, but because it’s so different from other books. I don’t think it’s the best management book (it’s mainly about manufacturing), and I don’t think you will learn a lot (the process of on-going improvement is the goal of any company nowadays), but I’m sure you will remember it for a long time.

Fantastic ideas and very thought provoking... But quite average on the novel/story facet. Almost seems unnecessary to present the ideas in such a fashion.

Recomendado. Una buena —y corta— novela que nos brinda valiosas cápsulas de conocimiento sobre los sistemas de producción, envueltas en una entretenida historia —con romance incluido— sobre el manager de una planta con problemas para satisfacer las necesidades de sus clientes —y de su esposa. Lo que más me ha gustado del libro es que emplea el método socrático para hacernos razonar sobre el funcionamiento del sistema de producción y los diferentes sistemas que lo componen. En definitiva, es un libro genial para la mesita de noche: no es una novela vacía de contenido y no necesita una lectura muy activa.