I enjoy the business aspects of Goldratt's business novels, but the "human interest" parts - pass the sick bucket.This is another in his series of TOC books, applying the TOC analogy to project delivery and resource availability. Written in the late 1990's this seems old hat now - nothing particularly new, even the veiled introduction of Internal Rate of Return in final chapter was no surprise.Even though there was nothing new it was a breezy read that jogged some thinking for me, so it was a very useful read. Frustratingly the book very briefly mentions the need to prioritise resources and projects but then goes no further - I can only guess that TOC could not be turned to this (or else there would have been a few more chapters).A couple of notes. 1. Goldratt's principle characters are just poorly disguise fantasties of himself at different levels, so much so that I can't recall the heroes name. 2. He still has little new to say about TOC compared to the goal - instead of boy scouts it is not soldiers marching.Lastly I need to have a bit of a spray about the characters; the classroom characters rang true but the secondary characters were appallingly badly written and do harm to the book - Goldratt could be so much better off by sticking at what he is good at (TOC and teaching) and dropping the human angle and instant millionaire fantasy. I would loved have seen the book rewritten in the horribly realistic style of a Phillip K Dick 1950s mainstream writing:* Academics earn comparatively little are at each others throats to maintain tenure* Hero only gets a 1 year extension* Ruth leaves modem company does a PhD, but transfers to Guru Johnny* Ruth capitalises on heroes ideas (which were mainly hers and Mark's) and Heroes colleagues further advance their publication and consulting careers (Jim and Johnny are the originators of the IP anyway)* Mark leaves modem company and goes into a more stable industry* Hero loses job anyway as he does not publish enough and his "new" teaching styles becomes common place in his second year and the additional numbers don't last* Modem company can't maintain TOC performance gains without the think tanks and fluffs a release* The Business school inevitably shrinks per Blow Job's initial analysis * Modem company goes bust but is acquired by UniCo for a song* Wastrel wife spends all of the money and they lose the car* Creepy UniCo dude is an alien looking upgrade the level of consciousness of the planet * Hero "prostitutes" himself as a consultant and becomes an alcoholic* They lose the house anyway and Wastrel wife leaves hero for a successful real estate agent in New York (now you know why she visited so often)* Johnny finds hero and recruits him into alien's global TOC brainwashing plot, but hero is too washed up and jaded to care
Понравилась и эта книга Голдратта. Как и в других своих книгах автор весьма понятно и доступно доводит до читателей довольно понятные методы и системы управления проектами. Считаю, что концепции решения проблем предлагаемые Голдраттом подойдут практически в любом виде бизнеса, а также и в других видах организаций, даже вплоть до личной жизни. Главное что мне нравиться в книгах автора так это его стиль: просто и доступно о сложном в увлекательной форме.И конечно же рекомендую данную книгу всем управленцам.
Although I found this book completely by accident I feel that it helped me to repeat the previous knowledge about project management which I learned ~7 years ago. All the theory I gained in College was made really simple and understandable. And the novel aspect made it easier to follow, so I felt as if I was back at school again, but at the same time I looked at it from a lecturers point of view which made it even more interesting. I am actually quite surprised that I could really relate to that book because of the educational aspect and the project management related issues. I think it would make an excellent reading material for colleges and universities to teach project management basics.
—Katrin
Critical Chain is the followup to Goldratt's The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, and attempts to take Theory of Constraints and make it more obvious how it applies to project management. The book is written in a "business novel" style like The Goal, or like the books of Patrick Lencioni, and as with every other example of the genre I've read, it is not fine literature, but it keeps things moving a little more than a dry business treatise would.The basic philosophy is an examination of critical path project management with TOC's focus on throughput as critical for reducing risk and eliminating waste. (In a TOC approach, 'inventory' is the extra padding you build into your schedule.) It's a novel approach, and addresses some of the very real challenges of project planning. Recommended.
—Patrick
It's great when you read a book for grad school that you'd consider reading anyways. I loved this book. Not only did it teach some very valuable project management lessons on Theory of Constraints, but it taught the lesson through the stories of a group of very likeable characters. The author also gives very relevant real world examples for each application of this theory. My kind of book. I'm sure it would be best to back up the learning in this book with a few structured lectures on TOC, but I would never have read a book on this topic if it had been that dry. It was a great story, much like "The Double Helix" is for biology or chemistry students. I'm glad I was assigned this text to read, it sure didn't feel like work to me.
—Don
