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chuckroThe Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement is a book that I had to read for my operations class this semester. It's basically a primer on how to make operational improvements in a business process, "cleverly disguised" as a novel.
To its credit, it does illustrate some of the examples very well. The impact of statistic fluctuations as demonstrated by boy scout hiking order and moving matches in bowls is very easy to grasp. It's a much faster, easier and more pleasant read than the vast majority of textbooks.
To its detriment, it has a guru character who teaches via the socratic method, which I have never seen done in a book in a way that didn't strike me as preachy and pandering. (See also: Scott Adams writing anything that isn't Dilbert.) Most of the other characters are there to fulfill trope purposes: The subordinates that fawn over him once he implements these brilliant practices, the by-the-book superior who hates these new ideas but gets a comeuppance, the hard-nosed boss who knew he was brilliant the whole time, etc.
The subplot is about the main character's wife leaving him and them reconciling, but his wife is very much presented as a sterotypical '50s twit of a housewife who exists only to react to him. (I, for my part, can't see why he'd want her back. She complains about things that either don't matter or she could fix herself; she doesn't work; and she leaves the kids with his mother when she leaves, leaving him to show how awesome he is at taking care of the kids while figuring out how to win her back AND revitalize his factory! And somewhere in my disgust at this spoiled, useless brat of a character I realized that it's really the author's misogyny that pisses me off.)
Honestly, what this needs is for a better writer to take a pass at all the scenes directly relating to characters (as opposed to the factory) and fiddle with the dialogue so it remains understandable but with less "you need to figure it out for yourself" condescention.
To its credit, it does illustrate some of the examples very well. The impact of statistic fluctuations as demonstrated by boy scout hiking order and moving matches in bowls is very easy to grasp. It's a much faster, easier and more pleasant read than the vast majority of textbooks.
To its detriment, it has a guru character who teaches via the socratic method, which I have never seen done in a book in a way that didn't strike me as preachy and pandering. (See also: Scott Adams writing anything that isn't Dilbert.) Most of the other characters are there to fulfill trope purposes: The subordinates that fawn over him once he implements these brilliant practices, the by-the-book superior who hates these new ideas but gets a comeuppance, the hard-nosed boss who knew he was brilliant the whole time, etc.
The subplot is about the main character's wife leaving him and them reconciling, but his wife is very much presented as a sterotypical '50s twit of a housewife who exists only to react to him. (I, for my part, can't see why he'd want her back. She complains about things that either don't matter or she could fix herself; she doesn't work; and she leaves the kids with his mother when she leaves, leaving him to show how awesome he is at taking care of the kids while figuring out how to win her back AND revitalize his factory! And somewhere in my disgust at this spoiled, useless brat of a character I realized that it's really the author's misogyny that pisses me off.)
Honestly, what this needs is for a better writer to take a pass at all the scenes directly relating to characters (as opposed to the factory) and fiddle with the dialogue so it remains understandable but with less "you need to figure it out for yourself" condescention.
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Date: 2010-07-03 06:26 pm (UTC)and it's funny because I remember thinking after having finished it was that "this is something that any non-brain dead person with a little elementary physics knowledge could figure out spending half a day wandering around any manufacturing plant in the USA"
It's all about the bottlenecks!!! And spotting the obvious weakest link in the chain...
Too bad, the way they are tearing down said plants here in the U.S.A. and shipping them off to China for re-assembly there, this book may soon be the ONLY way to convey common sense to operations guys working towards your MBA's and future jobs as plant managers working in China....
If'fn I were you, I wouldn't waste time in Op. management classes in school.
Much better future employment possibilities in Finance...
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Date: 2010-07-07 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-07 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-07 02:11 pm (UTC)I wouldn't seek out a book like this, but it's much more pleasant reading than a textbook. At least there's an attempt at narrative flow an "layman-friendly" examples.