The Goal as a Split-Track Narrative

which focuses on Al Rogo, a plant manager, who is presented as struggling to salvage both his ailing manufacturing plant and his expiring marriage. By juxtaposing two tales where collapse appears imminent, Goldratt heightens the story's narrative suspense while showcasing multiple instances where his innovative crisis management skills would be best applied. His twin focus reinforces his only slightly camouflaged attempt to establish philosophical underpinnings as the basis for all acts of problem solving. While The Goal centers upon developing improved management skills in the midst of crisis, equally it invests itself within the classical format of a quest narrative. Goldratt intentionally fuses business and family problems as a means of exploring how decision processes are integrally related to value. The Goal insists that the best solutions result from the framing of good questions. Goldratt illustrates how the best problem solvers are individuals capable of tapping into their creativity and even more importantly capable of surpassing the limits of their prior assumptions.

Goldratt artfully contends that flexibility is one of the key ingredients for an effective manager. Near the book's beginning, Rogo meets with Lou, the plant controller. These two high ranking plant officials agree that the 3 measurements which are central to knowing if a company is making money are "net profit,