Critical Chain Book

As an Engineer I am used to reading highly structured texts where the content is clearly partitioned into numbered sections with a series of formulas and figures to present the theory. After reading the theory in each section, I'll typically find a number of problems designed to test and enrich my understanding before proceeding to the next topic.

Eliyahu Goldratt, who is a physicist turned business consultant, chose to break from this conventional writing style by presenting his ideas in the form of business novels. Goldratt's most famous novel is called The Goal - A Process of Ongoing Improvement. Critical Chain applies the Theory of Constraint principals presented in The Goal to Project Management. If you have not read The Goal, I highly recommend you read it, however it is not a prerequisite to understand the book Critical Chain.

Goldratt's novels begin by introducing a lead character and then a number of additional characters that tie into the lead's personal and professional lives. As the characters are presented, the reader learns about their various problems and their need for finding solutions. The reader then follows the characters through their journey of defining the problem and learning new ways to look at the problem along with demonstrations of how the conventional views of the problem unexpectedly lead to solutions with less than desirable results. The journey then continues with the characters finding and implementing successful solutions to their problems. Interestingly, some of the subplots in the lead's personal life foreshadow lessons to be learned in his professional life. And often after solving the business problem, the character learns to apply the new techniques back to his person life and other problems he had not expected.

The Critical Chain revisits the Theory of Constraints principles from The Goal and applies them to problems in Project Management. As an example, the reality of uncertainty in time estimates for an activity is presented. Usually 'safety' is added to the estimate to ensure enough time is allocated. However this can lead to the 'student syndrome' where an activity will be left to the last minute if given the opportunity. This 'student syndrome' is not always bad and in particular cases should be encouraged. If you are familiar with The Goal and its definition of the concepts of throughput, inventory and operating expense, you may be able to anticipate how these concepts, which were applied to the manufacturing plant, should be applied to Project Management. However some of the relationships are subtle and the differences are important. To me, applying the Theory of Constraints to Project Management is analogous to applying vibration theory of a mechanical system (mass, damper and spring) to an electrical system (inductance, resistance and capacitance). If you are familiar with these physics concepts, you know that it is useful to apply your experiences with a dynamic electrical system to your experiences with a dynamic mechanical system and vise versa. But you must be careful in your comparisons if you want to derive meaningful results. The same can be said when comparing the flow of material through a manufacturing plant and the flow of completed milestones in a project plan. I encourage you to read the book to fully appreciate this.

Goldratt's approach of telling a story to teach his audience is not new. However, it is not common in my experience. His style is a welcomed change to conventional textbooks and is effective. Later after being sold on Goldratt's techniques you can refer to one of the many conventional texts that were written after The Goal and Critical Chain to enrich your understanding. (For example Synchronous Manufacturing: Principles for World Class Excellence by Umble and Srikanth or Project Management in the Fast Lane by Robert C. Newbold)