Productivity
The Goal Summary & Review: Find the One Constraint Slowing Everything Down
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt summary & review — the Theory of Constraints, the Five Focusing Steps, and a 7-day plan to…
Read Summary →Eliyahu M. Goldratt
"Physicist who taught the business world that every system has exactly one bottleneck."
Eliyahu M. Goldratt (1947-2011) was an Israeli physicist who moved from theoretical science into business consulting after developing production-scheduling software for a friend's chicken-coop factory. That work became the seed of the Theory of Constraints, a management philosophy built on a simple physicist's instinct: complex systems, like physical ones, are governed by a small number of controlling variables. Rather than write a textbook, Goldratt chose fiction, publishing "The Goal" as a business novel in 1984. It went on to sell more than 4 million copies, is taught in MBA programs worldwide, and is credited with reshaping how manufacturers and, later, software teams think about bottlenecks, flow, and focus. Jeff Cox co-wrote the novel's prose. Goldratt continued developing Theory of Constraints tools until his death in 2011.
1 book featured on The Growth Reads
Books by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Our in-depth summaries and reviews of his work
Key Ideas & Recurring Themes
Theory of Constraints
Every system has exactly one factor limiting its output at any given time — find it, fix it, then find the next one.
Notable Quotes
"An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost for the entire system."— The Goal
"The only real measure is: did the actions taken move the company toward making more money?"— The Goal
Book Author Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The Goal Summary & Review: Find the One Constraint Slowing Everything Down
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt summary & review — the Theory of Constraints, the Five Focusing Steps, and a 7-day plan to find and fix your one real bottleneck.