[The fastest way to read The Goal, and the absolute fastest way to learn The Theory of Constraints.][Watch a summary of Chapter 33.]

Rogo works with his team to anticipate what will be needed to succeed in his next job.  This chapter is full of Goldratt wisdom.

Highlight

“We re-engineered the deal; we came back with a counter-offer that was feasible and that the client liked even more than his original request.”

Collaboration between sales and operations leads to growth.

Page by Page

P271 – “And haven’t you noticed that quality has improved, and overtime has gone down—not to mention that we hardly ever have to expedite today!”

If every piece of WIP is treated as important, then quality improves.  Challenging the plant to improve broadly can be more effective than privileging high priority work.

P272 – “Donovan has worked only on things that we have orders for.”

Why work on anything else?

P273 – “I wasn’t an objective observer; I was following, almost blindly, some erroneous procedures without understanding the far-reaching, devastating ramifications.”

Using Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies – Rogo, through the coaching he has received, has moved from being an obliger to a questioner.

P274 – “I want the opportunity to devise a new measurement system, one that’ll correct the system we have now, so that it will do what we expect it to do.”

Measurement is crucial.

P275 – “We re-engineered the deal; we came back with a counter-offer that was feasible and that the client liked even more than his original request.”

Rogo’s plant didn’t simply say “yes” to Bucky’s request.  They countered with what they could do and there was a negotiation that benefited both sides.

P276 – “And then we took the time and reexamined it from basic principles.”

Once the spell of history is broken, new rules are adopted with a lot of inspection.

P277 – “You caused us to change almost every rule in production. You forced us to view production as a means to satisfy sales. I want to change the role production is playing in getting sales.”

Operations working closely with sales is a winning combination for any business.

P278 – “We don’t break setups, or light a fire.”

Breaking in to production schedules is almost always a losing battle.  Educate your operations team and make it easy for them to prioritize with visibility to customer needs.

P279 – “Information is the answer to the question asked.”

Sharing information when no one has asked a question is lecturing.