E_M_Goldratt_-_The_Goal.pdf

Captured by Plamen T.

THE GOAL

Eliyahu M. Goldratt

and

Jeff Cox

With interviews by David Whitford,

Editor at Large, Fortune Small Business

North River Press

Captured by Plamen T.

A Process of Ongoing Improvement

THIRD REVISED EDITION

Additional copies can be obtained from your local

bookstore or the publisher:

The North River Press

Publishing Corporation

P.O. Box 567

Great Barrington, MA 01230

(800) 486-2665 or (413) 528-0034

www.northriverpress.com

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or

any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the

publisher

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Goldratt, Eliyahu M., 1948-

The goal: a process of ongoing improvement

I. Coxjeff, 1951-. II. Title

PR9510.9.G64G61986 823 86-12566

ISBN: 0-88427-178-1

Captured by Plamen T.

INTRODUCTION

The Goal is about science and education. I believe that these

two words have been abused to the extent that their original

meanings have been lost in a fog of too much respect and mys-

tery. Science for me, and for the vast majority of respectable sci-

entists, is not about the secrets of nature or even about truths.

Science is simply the method we use to try and postulate a mini-

mum set of assumptions that can explain, through a straightfor-

ward logical derivation, the existence of many phenomena of na-

ture.

The Law of Conservation of Energy of physics is not truth. It

is just an assumption that is valid in explaining a tremendous

amount of natural phenomena. Such an assumption can never be

proven since even an infinite number of phenomena that can be

explained by it does not prove its universal application. On the

other hand, it can be disproved by just a single phenomenon that

cannot be explained by the assumption. This disproving does not

detract from the validity of the assumption. It just highlights the

need or even the existence of another assumption that is more

valid. This is the case with the assumption of the conservation of

energy which was replaced by Einstein's more global-more valid

-postulation of the conservation of energy and mass. Einstein's

assumption is not true to the same extent that the previous one

was not "true".

Somehow we have restricted the connotation of science to a

very selective, limited assemblage of natural phenomena. We re-

fer to science when we deal with physics, chemistry or biology.

We should also realize that there are many more phenomena of

nature that do not fall into these categories, for instance those

phenomena we see in organizations, particularly those in indus-

trial organizations. If these phenomena are not phenomena of

nature, what are they? Do we want to place what we see in organi-

zations to the arena of fiction rather than into reality?

E.M. Goldratt

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

Captured by Plamen T.

This book is an attempt to show that we can postulate a very

small number of assumptions and utilize them to explain a very

large spectrum of industrial phenomena. You the reader can

judge whether or not the logic of the book's derivation from its

assumptions to the phenomena we see daily in our plants is so

flawless that you call it common sense. Incidentally, common

sense is not so common and is the highest praise we give to a

chain of logical conclusions. If you do, you basically have taken

science from the ivory tower of academia and put it where it

belongs, within the reach of every one of us and made it applica-

ble to what we see around us.

What I have attempted to show with this book is that no

exceptional brain power is needed to construct a new science or

to expand on an existing one. What is needed is just the courage

to face inconsistencies and to avoid running away from them just

because "that's the way it was always done". I dared to interweave

into the book a family life struggle, which I assume is quite famil-

iar to any manager who is to some extent obsessed with his work.

This was not done just to make the book more popular, but to

highlight the fact that we tend to disqualify many phenomena of

nature as irrelevent as far as science is concerned.

I have also attempted to show in the book the meaning of

education. I sincerely believe that the only way we can learn is

through our deductive process. Presenting us with final conclu-

sions is not a way that we learn. At best it is a way that we are

trained. That's why I tried to deliver the message contained in

the book in the Socratic way. Jonah, in spite of his knowledge of

the solutions, provoked Alex to derive them by supplying the

question marks instead of the exclamation marks. I believe that

because of this method, you the reader will deduce the answers

well before Alex Rogo succeeds in doing so. If you find the book

entertaining maybe you will agree with me that this is the way to

educate, this is the way we should attempt to write our textbooks.

Our textbooks should not present us with a series of end results

but rather a plot that enables the reader to go through the deduc-

tion process himself. If I succeed by this book to change some-

what your perception of science and education, this is my true

reward.

E.M. Goldratt

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

Captured by Plamen T.

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