The Goal

A Process of Ongoing Improvement - 30th Anniversary Edition

By: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this intriguing business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the listener; and thankfully the authors' economic models, including a game with matchsticks and bowls, are easy to understand. Although some characters are as anonymous as the goods manufactured in the factory, others ring true. In addition, the tender story of Alex and his wife's separation and reconciliation makes a touching contrast to the rest of the book. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the state of the American economy.

©1984 Original material © 1984, Revised 1986, 1992, 2004, 2014 Goldratt1 Ltd. "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" © 2008 Eliyahu M. Goldratt. (P)2014 (p) 2014 Goldratt1 Ltd.

The Goal - still relevant today

I read this book 20 years ago, and while the story has a lot of remnants from the 1980s that don't translate well to todays modern world, the concepts demonstrated through fixing the broken factory are still true today as they were then. It should be required reading or listening to anyone who works in a leadership position in their careers regardless of the field they work.

Reinventing Production for Us IT Dummies

I am an IT manager and I am getting into DevOps. This book came up more than once in my research so I gave it a try even though I am not in fabrication and production. At least, that's what I thought until I listened to this book.

What I love about this book is that the fictional narrative allows the protagonist to "blow-up" his manufacturing plant's way of doing business. Of course, he isn't trying to blow it up, he is just trying to make it perform. But Goldratt teaches us that some things, some processes we entered the profession with, some metrics that have served us well for years - need to be blown-up and more importantly, replaced with something useful. Listen to this book and find out not necessarily what the new metrics should be - but how to discover them for yourself.

Great lessons packed inside of a well told story

I really enjoyed this book...and I'm not even in the manufacturing industry! I'm working on my own food business right now. I think there's a little something here for everyone who's looking to increase efficiency in a counter intuitive way.

Also, I really enjoyed the way the story was told and I appreciate all of the extra effort that went in this audio production.

This book changed the way I think

Any additional comments?

What a book. The idea of textbook flipped on its head and turned into a narrative. The ideas for the manufacturing plant I think are transferable to many other endeavors. When you ask the question - what is my goal here, and then go through the thought process outlined, amazing things happen. A great author, thinker and contributor to many businesses bottom line.

Decent concepts, but unnecessarily dramatized

Purchased following all of the positive reviews and the whole "30th anniversary" marketing. Ultimately it has a handful of good thoughts on systems and processes, and viewing things from a new perspective, especially related to American manufacturing concepts, but the dramatization of the narrative got old quickly and stretched what should otherwise have been a book of less than 5 chapters. Plenty of other resources out there will accomplish the same thing unless you really like cheesy business drama in the line of afternoon soap operas.

Wish there was an abridged version

The concepts and lessons in this book are useful and relatable since it's told as a story. When it was published in 1984, it was a novel idea to write a business book as a story. However decades later, the style and content are dated. The book can be trimmed about 20% by removing the protagonist's personal problems. It doesn't add to the main topic nor is it necessary to develop the characters in a business book. Also, the beginning of the book has a lot of unnecessary drama about the possible demise of the plant and the long, drawn out struggle of how they sought the answers to their problems. You can probably start on Chapter 20 and not miss anything substantial.

Lost interest 3/4 the way in.

Struggled to finish. Pretty dated and over dramatic at times. Some good principals. Could have been shorter.

Unlistenable

Returning this immediately, multiple voice actors rarely work, and the combination of multiple voices and background music is cacophonous.

Outstanding! One of the best I've ever listened to.

It was like watching a screenplay with different characters and plot lines, and the lessons are crystal clear. Recommended to anyone interested in understanding the science of Process in any business.

Great education on metrics to make decisions

This is a great book on how to look at things from a different direction and pay attention to value drivers you may not be watching. I wished I read it twenty years ago.

Poor reading by main character

The main character was reading like he was chasing a train. Very monotonous voice as well. Really let the story down

An Excellent Listen

This is one of those books that will stay with me for the rest of my working life. Whilst the story is based on a manufacturing plant, and how their focus on efficiency was ironically killing their profits, it also has so many overlaps into a whole host of different industries. Since I've read it I always ask myself ' What is the goal here?' whenever I am in a new project or even a business meeting, is it just to complete a project to time and cost? What is the bigger picture, how does this feed into the overall goal of the organisation? One part that really resonated with me was when two workers were idle next to a machine, and their supervisor had them start moving boxes from one side of the factory to the other - for what purpose? Just to they can be 'perceived' to be busy rather than contributing to the goal of the plant. It made me realise that we need to have flex when it comes to capacity, and this is just as true in knowledge work as it is in manufacturing.

The narration is first rate and the voice acting was immersive and sympathetically executed. Is this a must read? Absolutely, few books have had the impact this has on my perspective of management.

How to increase your production throughput by optimising flow

Nice story introducing various concepts around bottlenecks and flow that can be used to increase throughput by multiples. Thought provoking and interesting, but maybe needs some in depth thinking in order to put it to use in a different environment.

Exhilarating and insightful - an inspiration

This book is a masterpiece. A work of art. If you have a business with any kind of assembly line it’s a must read. If not it’s a beautifully written story with tension and pace and excitement that will teach you things you didn’t know.

Such as how Toyota overtook theUS car industry in the 80s and how those ideas originated with Henry Ford, whose insights had been forgotten by several generations of managers and accountants who didn’t understand the goal.

Very Enlightening!

This book has highlighted so many things to me. Having worked in financial services for 19 years without this knowledge, it has dawned on me that I could have really benefitted from hearing/reading this book 10 years ago when I first wanted to get into management. I'm not much of a reader, so the audiobook, with all it's character voices, sound effects etc was incredibly easy for me to consume. 17 hours in three days! The storyline was very relatable for me as someone who has grown up in a family that is always looking to move forward and improve. Also as part of a mixed class family with expectation to be married, have a family, work hard and move up the ladder. The only let down in the story for me and what I didn't like, was Alex Rogo's perspective of his wife's behaviour in the early stages of the book. It's painful to listen to how he treats her, how he talks to her, but I guess that it might have been more normal behaviour for men back in the 80s. Maybe that is more of a moral issue than a downside to the book. I hope it highlights to many people out there, that our relationships need work, and our families and partners need our time, just as much as our businesses do. There are clear lessons to be learnt throughout this book and they can be applied to any business we might work for or own. You have to take a step or two outside your normal zone to really assess what is going on, but I believe that most people can learn a huge amount from this book and the way it has been structured with the story. I'll probably be recommending this book to everyone I ever speak to.

still great 10 years later

I read this book over 10 years ago and shocked how much i remember. which shows how well its written.

Manfacturing in all sectors

It doesn't matter your sector, the goal is all about improvement. This book brings to life a manufacturing plant and the analysis and changes to make that can be applied to any business. Want to make your business or the business you work for more successful, then understand your goal.

Gripping fantastic book masterfully narrated.

Great novel from am outstanding mentor. I didn't even realise I was giving it a third listening to.

Love it

This is the first business novel I listened and liked it so much.
Highly recommend to everyone interested in developing operational strategies.

Excellent

Really enjoyable book for business & manufacturing
Great voices to narrate & funny & interesting
Highly recommended
Thank you