Critical Chain (novel) - Plot Introduction

Plot Introduction

Like Goldratt’s book The Goal, Critical Chain is written as a novel, not like a project manager's how-to guide. This book is a story about a professor trying to attain his tenure at a university's business school. The plot is used to maintain interest in the subject and provide a real life feel to the book. It provides plenty of real-world examples. The plot of the novel is fourfold:

1. A professor trying to become tenured,
2. A business school's struggle to improve enrollment,
3. Teaching philosophy,
4. Applying the Theory of Constraints to project management

The goal of the book is the last point, but Goldratt makes it clear that educational systems must change to better accommodate the quickly changing world of business.

The book walks the reader through a series of steps to establish the principles for the discussion. It is written for someone with a modicum of project management background.

The book starts by pointing out the problems with how time estimates are normally done on projects. It then provides a primer on the Theory of Constraints and an example of its implementation in a steel mill. With the foundation set, it proceeds to show how the Theory of Constraints can be applied to schedule generation, resources constraints and multiple projects.