Title: The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Authors: Eliyahu M. Goldratt; Jeff Cox
Publication dates (EN): 1984 (first ed., North River Press); June 28, 2014 – 30th Anniversary (4th revised) edition.
Pages (EN): 408 pp. (30th Anniversary ed.; other printings list ~384+ depending on edition).
Value for PMs & founders (problem it solves)
A practical, story-driven way to increase throughput and deliver value faster by focusing on your system’s constraint, using the Five Focusing Steps, and managing by T-I-OE instead of vanity utilization metrics.
Summary
Plant manager Alex Rogo learns TOC from mentor Jonah to turn around a failing factory: find the bottleneck, protect it (buffers), align everything to flow (e.g., drum-buffer-rope), and measure success via Throughput, Inventory, Operating Expense. The novel format popularized TOC across industries and remains widely taught.
3 community-reported takeaways (with sources)
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Focus beats local efficiency—run the Five Focusing Steps as a continuous loop to raise system performance. Theory of Constraints Institute
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Manage by T-I-OE—optimize for Throughput while controlling Inventory and Operating Expense; this reframes decisions beyond cost-cutting. Theory of Constraints Institute
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“Herbie” first—improving the constraint has outsized impact; the hiking-trip metaphor helps teams internalize flow economics. Medium
Buy online (international)
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North River Press via Bookshop.org — 30th/anniversary listings. Bookshop
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Barnes & Noble (US) — 30th Anniversary edition (408 pp.). Barnes & Noble
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Amazon (US) — anniversary listings. Amazon
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Publisher announcement (North River Press) — 30th Anniversary release note. northriverpress.com
Author of Impact Factories / Co-founder of Shy Robotics and Product Whys / Head of Product at Dassault Systèmes / Engineer passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship
Full bibliography here
