[The fastest way to read The Goal, and the absolute fastest way to learn The Theory of Constraints.][Watch a video that summarizes Chapter 32 of The Goal.]

The chapters after 31 are really a resolution to the book.  Rogo was promoted in 31.  The plant is in good shape.  These final chapters focus on laying out the ‘Rules around Constraints’ and show how Rogo takes his epiphany on learning and applies it to his next job managing multiple plants.

Highlight

“If it weren’t for the conviction that we gained in the struggle—for the ownership that we developed in the process—I don’t think we’d actually have had the guts to put our solutions into practice.”

Urgency – creating it and managing it, is part of effective change management.

Page by Page

P265 – “The family paid too big a price for this promotion,” I finally say.

There are many families – mine included – who have paid too much for a promotion.  Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life is a great way to think about work/life balance.

P266 – They all made common sense, and at the same time, they flew directly in the face of everything I’d ever learned.

P267 – “If it weren’t for the conviction that we gained in the struggle—for the ownership that we developed in the process—I don’t think we’d actually have had the guts to put our solutions into practice.”

The process of change management is tough.  It is a rare group that can take feedback and implement the needed changes right away.

“Probably Mark Twain was right saying that ‘common sense is not common at all’ or something similar.”

“The best that I have come up with so far is to recognize that we refer to something as common sense only if it is in line with our own intuition.”

If it was common sense to both parties – you would already be doing it.

P268 – “Actually there are only two possibilities, either you are not understood, or you are understood.”

Communication and explanation can be hard.  Repetition is part of effective communication.

P269 – “It looks like one should think twice before charging the tall windmills of common practice.”

“This is the technique that I should ask Jonah to teach me: how to persuade other people, how to peel away the layers of common practice, how to overcome the resistance to change.”