[If you haven’t read the original version of The Goal – it’s a better book. Here’s a chapter-by-chapter video summary, and a <60 second summary too.]

Pages 47 – 55

Marc visits with Abbie about cutting the WIP – freezing projects – in order to increase their throughput. Abbie observes that if they want to cut execution time in half, they should probably cut the WIP in half too. These observations are very similar to ones made in Chapter 28 of The Goal.

Best Quotes, Writing

“After the class on Saturday morning Marc kept thinking about the idea of controlling WIP.  He can’t find any flaws in the logic. The question is, will it work?” Page 47

“So that means that if we want to improve our performance, we need to do something very differen than what we are currently doing.” Marc to Abbie, Page 48

“For example, if A gets stuck in the middle of a project, and B stops what they are doing and helps A out so both of them can quickly move on, the overall flow of projects benefits so that’s good multitasking.” Marc to Abbie, Page 49

“We can’t really judge if our multitasking is good or bad.” Abbie to Marc, Page 50

“To rectify it, we should start controlling the WIP.” Marc, page 50

“We got it done in three months, which means it’s possible.  I’d like to get to a point in which we finish every project in three months.” Marc, Page 51

“I think that means that we need to cut the number of projects we work on in parallel, also in half.” Marc to Abbie, Page 51

“Let’s give it three months.” Page 52 – Marc to Abbie – anyone will agree to something in the short term.

“Marc can smell her subtle perfume.” Page 53

“I want to roll it out tomorrow.  Will you help me figure out how to explain it to others?” Marc to Abbie, page 53.