Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (March 31, 1947 – June 11, 2011) was an Israeli physicist who became a business management guru

Quotes

• My system does not make sense at all, but by God it’s working.
  • Goldratt, E. M. (1990). What is this thing called theory of constraints and how should it be implemented? New York: North River Press. p. 28

• I smile and start to count on my fingers: One, people are good. Two, every conflict can be removed. Three, every situation, no matter how complex it initially looks, is exceedingly simple. Four, every situation can be substantially improved; even the sky is not the limit. Five, every person can reach a full life. Six, there is always a win / win solution. Shall I continue to count?
  • Goldratt, E. M. (2008). The Choice North River Press. p. 157

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (1984)

E.M. Goldratt, J. Cox, D. Whitford (1984) The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. Other editions 1992, 2004; (Review by Brady Uselman, 2010)

• If the goal is to make money, then (putting it in terms Jonah might have used), an action that moves us toward making money is productive. And an action that takes away from making money is non-productive.
  • p. 41

• There are three measurements which express the goal of making money perfectly well, but which also permit you to develop operational rules for running your plant. Their names are throughput, inventory and operational expense.
  • p. 60

• Fundamentally, a manager is looking to answer these questions: ‘what to change?’,’ what to change to?’ and ‘ how to cause the change?’

The Haystack Syndrome (1990)

E.M. Goldratt (1990) The Haystack Syndrome: Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean.. North River Press, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 1990

• [Throughput is the] rate at which the system generates money through sales.
  • p. 19; as cited by: Gerald P. Marquis (2011) A Framework for Propagating Measures of Performance Throughout Organizations Using Object-oriented Technology., p. 10

• [Inventory is measured by] the money the system invests in purchasing things the system intends to sell.
  • p. 23; as cited by: Gerald P. Marquis (2011, p. 10)

• Tell me how you measure me, and I will tell you how I will behave.
  • p. 26

• [Operating expense is defined as] all the money the system spends in turning inventory into throughput.
  • p. 29; as cited by: Gerald P. Marquis (2011, p. 10)

Critical Chain (1997)

E.M. Goldratt (1997) Critical Chain. North River Press.

• Companies are so immersed in the mentality of saving money that they forget that the whole intention of a project is not to save money but to make money.