Dr Eliyahu M Goldratt, 1947 – 2011
Eliyahu Goldratt and Dr Lisa Lang
Eliyahu Goldratt (Eliyahu M Goldratt, Eli Goldratt) is an Israeli physicist, educator, author, scientist, philosopher, and business leader. But he is, first and foremost, a thinker who provokes others to think. Often characterized as unconventional, stimulating, and “a slayer of sacred cows,” Eliyahu Goldratt exhorts his audience to examine and reassess their business practices with a fresh, new vision.
He was a prolific writer and thinker, and his work has had a profound impact on the business world. Goldratt’s is the father of Theory of Constraints (TOC), which has been applied in a wide variety of industries.
Science of Business’ own Dr Lisa Lang was with Eliyahu Goldratt the week before he passed and worked with him in Goldratt Consulting from 2004 to 2007.
Eliyahu M Goldratt Author
Books:
Eliyahu Goldratt The Goal
Eliyahu Goldratt is best known for his 1984 book, THE GOAL, which has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. The Goal utilizes a non-traditional approach to convey important business information–it is a business textbook written in novel form, disguised as a love story. The ideas illustrated in THE GOAL underscore Eliyahu Goldratt Theory of Constraints, an overall framework for helping businesses determine:
- What to change—not everything is broken
- What to change to—what are the simple, practical solutions
- How to cause the change—overcoming the inherent resistance to change.
In the subject of production, Eliyahu Goldratt also wrote PRODUCTION THE TOC WAY, a self-learning kit for manufacturers interested in applying Theory of Constraints techniques and spreading them within their companies. And THE RACE which is a graphical presentation of THE GOAL.
Eliyahu Goldratt wrote the sequel to The Goal, IT’S NOT LUCK. All aspects of the sales and marketing are revealed in his unique way, as the Theory of Constraints peels away the common nonsense and reveals what lies hidden beneath our inertia.
Goldratt’s novel, CRITICAL CHAIN, reveals the reasons projects never finish on time or within budget or within specs, and develops an alternate TOC approach to managing projects. The action in CRITICAL CHAIN takes place in a university setting and also deals with the problem facing academic institutions with large graduate business programs – MBA programs that are not producing what businesses need.
In addition, he has written several other books:
- WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED TOC?
- THE HAYSTACK SYNDROME
- BEYOND THE GOAL (audio only)
- THE CHOICE
- NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT
- ISN’T IT OBVIOUS?
- ESSAYS ON THE THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS
- LATE NIGHT DISCUSSIONS
Other Publications:
He is a frequent contributor to scientific journals, magazines and business publications and sits on several editorial boards. Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt contributions for a number of publications, including Harvard Business Review, Manufacturing Engineering, and The Journal of Business Strategy are too many to count.
One of the most controversial and popular articles is titled Cost Accounting: The Number One Enemy of Productivity.
Another very popular publication is Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Production concepts versus production applications
You can find other of his writings in our Theory of Constraints Article Archive.