| |
Books
Given the volume of business and information technology books
published each year, there are surprisingly few which offer original
thinking, insights or real practical value. Here are some exceptions...
|
|
| |
Eli Goldratt Books |
Covering...
the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and its
applications such as: -
-
Critical Chain (CC) in project management
(Btt has applied CC to production process scheduling
-
Drum-Buffer-Rope - a very powerful
scheduling model originally developed by Dr Goldratt for manufacturing
planning/scheduling... but has almost universal application to managing
'productive'
processes effectively.
|
|
| |
Other Theory of Constraints
books |
Coverage
includes...
-
further exploration of TOC
Critical Chain in project management
-
Dr Goldratt's TOC
"Thinking Process"
-
TOC & Throughput Accounting - a meaningful alternative
to Management Accounting and ABC Activity-Based Costing.
-
Independent research on TOC effectiveness
|
|
| |
Tom
Gilb books |
Covering...
-
Evolutionary Delivery (Evo) - how to fail-proof projects;
-
the
Planning specification language 'Planguage';
-
specifying and
measuring the all-important 'intangible' factors (advanced requirements
specification) including quality, performance and capabilities
requirements;
-
Document and
Software Inspection -the key to higher productivity, reduced costs and improved quality
products.
|
|
| |
Systems Thinking books |
Systems Thinking is the conceptual basis to the ideas developed by Dr Eli
Goldratt, Tom Gilb and twentieth century luminaries such as Dr W Edwards
Deming and Dr Joseph Juran. Systems Thinking is also the foundation we've
used to integrate Gilb and Goldratt Techniques to form a 'technology'
for thinking through 'the how' to business organisation, business process
and project delivery improvement. Peter Senge of
Fifth Discipline fame is inevitably included along with the "Father of
Systems Dynamics" Jay Forrester and one of the best thinkers/writers on
Systems Thinking, the late Barry Richmond, founder of High Performance
Systems Inc.
|
|
| |
Business Management books |
Books worth
recommending on diverse business management topics such as cash flow, the
demise of management accounting (Eli
Goldratt has incisive views on this) and anything by Peter Drucker. |
|
| |
Project & Program
Management books |
Some of the more
useful books on project and programme management are included here, along
with the PRINCE2 textbooks published by the UK Government's Office of
Government Commerce.
For advanced insights, have a look at Gilb,
Goldratt and
Theory of Constraints books.
|
|
| |
Software & Systems
Development books
|
These books distinguish
themselves from many on the market by having something of significant value
to say for managers of systems and software development. (Also see
Tom Gilb books). |
|
| |
Decision-Making & Decision-Analysis books |
Books authored by Ralph
Keeney and Howard Raiffa seem to figure large in this selection.
Whilst Ralph Keeney and Howard Raiffa's inclusion is not
hard to justify, it's not entirely clear why "Gödel, Escher, Bach" by
Douglas Hofstadter is in this section, beyond it being a classic book.
|
|
| |
Business Reengineering books |
A collection of books on quality management
by the gurus,
business process reengineering, change management and the dangers that lurk
in embarking upon ISO 9000 accreditation. |
|
| |
Investing in IT & Technology |
Judging by the number of disappointments,
there seems still much to learn on how to assess and make wise investments
in technology, and in IT in particular. These books make a useful
contribution to the learning. |
|
| |
Karl Popper books |
Karl Popper, is the influential and
controversial twentieth century philosopher who made an enormous
contribution to the philosophy of science, but what's he doing here?
As way of some explanation, before the arrival of Dr
Goldratt's Theory of Constraints or Tom Gilb's Evolutionary Delivery, Karl
Popper had set out the basic principles of their approaches in his "Logic of
Scientific Discovery" book published in the 1930s.
Popper described the process (represented in his 'schema') by which science,
or perhaps any field of disciplined thinking, improves its knowledge-base.
Popper's basic schema is... PS1 -> TT -> EE -> PS2
Where:
PS1 = Problem Situation 1 - the starting point with some
form of dissatisfaction with the current state of knowledge
TT = Trial Theory (the attempt to develop some kind of
hypothesis to explain observations)
EE = Error Elimination (where the errors revealed by
testing the Trial Theory are used to improve the next theory
PS2 = Problem Situation 2 - the new situation. It's new
because you've learnt from what you discovered in coming up with and testing
the Trial Theory. The cycle is repeated ad infinitum. This cycle is
essentially the basis of both the Theory of Constraints 'Thinking Process'
and Evolutionary Delivery.
Popper's key points include: all theory or knowledge is
tentative; theories can never be proven but they can and frequently are
falsified; the worth of a hypothesis is its
predictive power - the more specific, testable and improbable its
predictions, the greater the worth of the hypothesis.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
