Obituary: Dr Eliyahu Goldratt

Dr Eliyahu Goldratt, the management expert who developed Critical Chain project management, has passed away.

Dr Goldratt was the author of The Goal, which has sold over 13 million copies since publication in 1984. He also wrote Critical Chain. His theories are still influential – he’s quoted in The Project Management Answer Book by Jeff Furman which only came out recently, for example.

Dr Goldratt developed the Theory of Constraints, which is a management approach predicated on the fact that no chain is stronger than its weakest link. The weakest person or part of the process can always adversely impact the outcome. The Theory of Constraints aims to find that weak link and do something about it.

The thinking behind the Theory of Constraints led to the development of Critical Chain project management. This project management approach is based on having the right resources to carry out tasks and is used as an alternative scheduling method to critical path analysis.

Apparently Dr Goldratt’s methodology has been used in 7 of the 8 largest U.S. military air depots to increase productivity by over 30%.

Dr Goldratt died on Saturday, 11 June 2011.