Comments on: Precisely Wrong

By: Joshua Partogi

Joshua Partogi — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 17:39:58 +0000

Read Goldratt’s book “The Goal”. Still could not understand the overall idea of it. Maybe because my background is software development rather than manufacturing.

By: Hessel Visser

Hessel Visser — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 20:56:28 +0000

It was in 1991 when I was invited for an Academic Jonah Course in the Netherlands. We had a great two weeks with Eli and learned more than the TOC. We did understand that his way of doing the discussion was even very special. His two secretaries did an amazing job in that time to make every day a report of all the discussions we had. I still have these discussions available. I look back to an amazing time and learned a lot of him. Be far most I did like his way of asking the right question and then listen as best as possible.

By: Tricia Sutton (@SuttonTricia)

Tricia Sutton (@SuttonTricia) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 11:50:49 +0000

Eli Goldratt was one of my early exposures to lean types of concepts. I had read one of his books with great interest so convinced my employer to send me to a workshop near us in Chicago.

Brain science has shown that memories from dramatic (or traumatic) situations are stronger, longer lasting. I still remember his workshop vividly after a couple decades as a result… I especially remember Eli walking up and down the aisle **yelling** at us: “DO YOU UNDERSTAND? YES OR NO?!”

He’d look us straight in the eyes, demanding an honest answer. While it was initially intimidating, I saw that if someone did say “No,” he would go back over what someone didn’t understand and help change it to a “yes” …

I also took to heart his unwillingness to shorten his sessions for executives because he did not believe they would get it if they did not give him the time to take them through whole thought process. He’d give up a client rather than not be effective or let someone believe they knew his concepts when they had not done enough.

An amazing man.

By: Goldratt Books (@GoldrattBooks)

Goldratt Books (@GoldrattBooks) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 17:38:43 +0000

Bruce, thank you for this tribute to Eli. We’ll be sure to share it with his family and as many of his former colleagues and fans as possible. —North River Press / Goldratt Books

By: Mark Graban

Mark Graban — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:59:08 +0000

When I was at GM from 1995 to 1997, there was very detailed TOC training that was given to us in the Powertrain plants… not from Goldratt himself, but from people trained by him. I had previously read The Goal as part of an undergraduate Industrial Engineering class.

I remember one conflict being the idea of a constraint. The Lean folks at GM (yes, we had them) would say to design a line that was balanced… therefore no constraint. The TOC people would argue there SHOULD be a designed-in constraint at the first operation, to prevent too much WIP from accumulating in the line (which sounds like Lean).