The man behind the Theory of Constraints died this month, but his legacy will endure in the questions we ask ourselves.
Eliyahu Goldratt died this month. Goldratt was the rare person who will live on after his death, not just in the hearts and minds of those close to him, but in the daily activities of millions of his fellow humans. Sports heroes survive on highlight reels. Great singers give us soundtracks for our lives. Eli Goldratt gave us a better way to conduct business.
Here on the Operational Excellence channel at Managing Automation, we often champion lean manufacturing, but Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints deserves its own place in the pantheon of business philosophies. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, in Goldratt’s refusal to see even the most intractable problem as anything but a series of questions to be asked and steps to be solved: Establish the goal, identify the constraint, exploit the constraint, and be alert, lest the constraint return to previous form.
It is as much a philosophy of life as it is a treatise on business. We live in an overcomplicated world, and much of that complication is self-imposed. If I apply the Theory of Constraints to my own life, for instance, I might say the goal is to live a less hectic, more considered existence. Many of my peers would say there just aren’t enough hours in the day. They would throw up their hands and declare that we are busy people, continuously besieged by the commitments of modern life. But Goldratt wouldn’t despair. He would look for a constraint. And he would find it in the TV show “Wipeout.” Watching people fall haphazardly into pools, it turns out, is not the hallmark of a considered life. It also shrinks the day by an hour, making me feel frenzied during the other 23 hours. It does not support the goal.
For those of you who don’t consider my life a paradigm by which to set your clocks, take an example from the business world. In 2009 we honored Rain CiiCarbon LLC with a Progressive Manufacturing Award for its use of the Theory of Constraints. The producer of petroleum coke for the aluminum industry used Goldratt’s philosophy to reduce plant shutdowns by 25% and generate $400,000 in annual revenue.
And they did it by first understanding their goal and then identifying the constraints. It’s a remarkably simple edict, as all great business theories are. As Goldratt himself said, “An expert is not someone who gives you an answer, it is someone who asks you the right questions.”
Goldratt’s questions will live on for a long, long time.
5 Comments
Chris:
Our own PM100 award in 2009 was for our use of a Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling system. DBR is the scheduling methodology of Theory of Constraints. We also saw significant results, with reductions in overtime and inventory, and an almost doubling of our capacity.
Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints seminar was the best, I ever attended, it changed how I looked at problems and like you life in general. He was one of the best thinker’s and the most interesting presenter I ever seen.
Chris,
Thank you so much for recognizing Eli’s contributions and for such a masterful application to life. Eli’s TOC approach was and is still criticized by many, despite countless success stories. I was touched by your simple and thoughtful application in recognizing what Eli gave to life in contrast to many who opposed his work and results. Thank you for setting a simple “goal”; for each of us to apply daily in the lives of those around us.
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. –Chris
Chris,
Thanks for posting this. We used the Theory of Constraints as a learning tool for our employees several years ago. I still have employees to this day that call upon the teachings that were learned through this book. We also studied Eli’s philosophy it as part of our CMQ/OE certification. He will be missed but not forgotten.