Project

When I first heard about the Theory of Constraints in 1997 I was curious about it. I read "THE GOAL" and thought, well it seems reasonable, but hardly surprising. Then I read "CRITICAL CHAIN" and then started thinking is that all there is?

To be honest about it, from a project scheduling point of view there is not much more to it than a resource loaded critical path method (CPM) schedule with a certain amount of strategically placed contingency tasks. I was underwhelmed. To top it off, the concepts are wrapped in a second-rate novel. Um... OK. I just didn't see why anyone would care particularly much about a repackaging of existing concepts. Then I learned that Mr. Goldratt had his own institute. An institute with $10,000 Jonah programs. It got me thinking of L. Ron Hubbard.

But misgivings aside, it was clear that I was headed for a collision course with TOC. I'll cover that in some upcoming postings.

I started a criticism bl_g here. Let me know if you have any suggestions for sites to review. Even your own.

Seth Godin seems to be forgetting the past. He claims that dissatisfaction  is  "a trend that is accelerating through every market and community on Earth." in his recent post:

Sorry Seth, I'm not believing that the good old days were any better than now in this regard. The culture for as long as I've been alive (and apparently even before then) has been dissatisfied. How about some signposts you ask?

• "I can't get no..." - The Rolling Stones
  
• "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take anymore" - Network
  
• "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolfe" - Edward Albee
  
• Little things like tearing down the Berlin Wall, throwing tea in miscellaneous harbors and the effective use of the guittotine in the French Revolution.

Given this sort of precedence and innumerable 1950's/1960's marketing critiques in vintage Mad Magazine I find it hard to believe that dissatisfaction is an "accelerating" trend. Or that Las Vegas is the most visible sign of it. Further, I'm not so certain that "marketing" is powerful enough to create such a culture. Certainly it can contribute, but dissatisfaction is not something you can create with billboards. And finally, Seth, if it is truly a "fact that we're unhappy all the time", take a break and take a few deep breaths. You have a lot to be thankful for.