Critical Chain

I was reading Critical Chain when I heard the news that the author, Dr Eliyahu Goldratt died. The Theory of Constraints guru focuses his attention on project management in this book after looking at constraints in the production process in The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement and in the marketing strategy in It's Not Luck . Again it is written as a business novel, this times from the perspective of an assistant professor at a small university whose job is at risk. The hero is offered a chance to teach on project management course on the executive MBA program. It's a subject he doesn't know much about so he has to learn as he goes and his ideas clashes with traditional project management theory. Projects are measured on three criteria - Time, Quality and Budget. As a general rule, projects are delivered late, not up to the original standard and over budget. They cost you more, give you back less and what you get is much later than expected. Projects are everywhere. I think I probably had too narrow a view when I read it the first time as I inevitably spent a lot of time reflecting back to a significant Year 2000 computer project I managed for a client and all the issues that arose. On my second reading, I reflected on smaller improvement projects where I didn't have a dedicated staff. Eli Goldratt is pushing against an open door - there's huge demand for a new way to manage projects that delivers on the original promises and commitments... and according to the author, that means managing the critical chain. If you've done any project management, you'll know of the critical path - the longest sequence of dependent activities which must be done for the project to be completed. The critical chain builds on the critical path and also assumes that one resource will be the constraint or bottleneck and activities by this resource are likely to be delayed. That constrained resource is the focus. The author makes some interesting points about why project performance is so bad. Slack is built into the time estimates because we don't go for an expected 50% success but 90% success and then miss it because we delay starting things we think we've got time on. The way around this is to take away the spare time from the individual project tasks and instead have a time buffer on the project and a buffer on individual critical activities. I like the idea and certainly agree that built in slack does happen. Many people will give themselves extra time to complete a task and still miss the deadline. I've also known people chronically underestimate the time it takes people to do a task when working on it full time and I've even done it myself. Few people will admit to padding out their time estimates when challenged but probably will confess to a high degree of confidence in getting the task done before their estimate. Few tasks get finished early because there's always a little extra you can do to make it better. Using the ideas of the normal distribution curve, you can prove the logic that time must be padded away from the median, 50% of the time. I really liked the emphasis on the cost of project time overruns because there's a temptation to scrimp and save on the resources because keeping within budget seems more important than hitting the project deadlines. The cost is much more visible than the missed revenue and profit streams that come from the project but in reality, cost may be tiny in comparison. There is an interesting section where we touch on the TOC Thinking Processes and the conflict involved with trying to manage costs and throughout with different emphasis needed on local efficiency (the cost world) and system effectiveness (the throughput world) I enjoyed reading Critical Chain but, as a novel, it's not as compelling as the classic book, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement . I had some aha moments as I was reading it and wished that I'd known about some of the ideas when I was managing large projects. This book will challenge the way you traditionally think about and plan projects. In fact, so different is this way of thinking that I feel you need to read it at least a second time. By then you'll have accepted the big ideas and you'll be ready to focus on smaller but important nuances. My one concern is that the book is fiction so it's easy to have a story of project chaos without critical chain thinking, and peaceful sanity using the ideas of the critical chain. The real world is a much harder taskmaster. I had less problem with this in The Goal because it involved repetitive manufacturing and people could learn. In projects, every time is unique. Paul Simister, a business coach who helps business owners who are stuck, get unstuck.

Theory well communicated through a story.

This book clearly explains how to use use TOC in projects. If you're interested in this arena then this book is a must-read.

You have to read this book. Great Business novel and an excellent read for anyone keen to learn more about Project Management! Highly recommend.

Fast delivery, item in better condition than I expected.

Great concepts but is the platform of a novel really necessary? The substance of critical chain could be condensed into one concise chapter without any loss of content or understanding.

Great read

Not yet had a chance to read it as I am so busy, but I expect it'l be just fine!

Excellent livre. Je l'utilise pour concilier mon travail avec les devoirs de mes deux enfants et je commence à constater des résultats très satisfaisantes.

Critical chain est l'ouvrage de référence de la Chaîne Critique, il s'appuie sur la théorie des contraintes et de l'ouvrage "The Goal" du Même auteur, Eliyahu Goldratt. Comment faire plus avec moins de ressources du Lean avant l'heure...

Il libro è fatto veramente bene, al di la della storia che può piacere o non piacere, porta il lettore per mano attraverso i concetti sviluppati da Goldratt. Io l'ho trovato una lettura veramente interessante

Es una historia con aplicación real para la administración de proyectos, me lo recomendaron y fue una buena decisión su compra.

Eli Goldratt continues his application of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to various business processes by focusing on project management with this latest business novella. TOC is a method of creating ongoing improvement in operational processes, as well as a general management philosophy. Goldratt introduced this theory to world in his best-selling book THE GOAL, where he applied the principles to a manufacturing setting. In CRITICAL CHAIN, Goldratt builds upon the teachings found in THE GOAL. He quickly describes of constructs of TOC, while spending more time addressing some specific phenomenon of project management versus process management. This is where the "Aha"s come into play. Goldratt's characters debate and learn why projects often run overdue and over budget, or finish with less completed than originally specified. The characters debate critical path vs. non-critical path tasks, early vs. late start, resource conflicts, safety buffers in each task, negotiating with subcontractors and suppliers, as well as the erroneous progress accounting/measurement techniques that give everyone a false sense of progress toward completion. Each of these topics were useful in challenging the conventional wisdom of project management. Each presented some new techniques for managing projects more aggressively. In my job, I indirectly manage a large number of construction project managers, and this was useful in understanding some of the reasons we struggle to deliver on time and on budget. For those of you looking for the same enlightenment that you probably derived from THE GOAL, you will be mildly disappointed. For those of you who have not yet read THE GOAL, I highly recommend reading it, because it will provide the foundation material (TOC) in much more depth and clarity. For me, TOC completes the loop of operational concepts that I have pondered over my career, namely how to improve processes and improve overall organizational productivity, while eliminating "fire fighting" and bottlenecks in production. CRITICAL CHAIN furthers the progress of this thinking relative to a project vs. a process environment.