On my trip to PC and back I listened to the Audio Book “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt at the recommendation of my good friend Mike Madsen after I attempted to explain my clutter book to him. When I was in MBA school, one of our professors suggested we read it, but I was too busy with teaching freshman biology, genetics research and MBA classes to possibly even think about it.

This is a dang good book (or audio book) not for it’s story line, (because it is written in a fictional format) but because of the principles it teaches about bottlenecks and the theory of constraints. There are some similarities between The Goal and the Clutter book I have written, such as using the scientific method in practical problem solving (which I also use to teach photography) and workflow optimization but I will say that mine is very different in that mine deals with the management of thoughts in relationship to clutter as well as eliminating clutter causes and the Goal deals with management of dealing with bottlenecks in dependent workflows. Goldratt has written so brilliantly subtle (and deep) that I think most non-business minded people will miss what he is saying, as well as the potential for application.

The Goal isnt for everyone, but if you have a systematic mind and regularly battle dependant (step-by-step)processes in workflow, I highly HIGHLY recommend it.