This is intended to be a business book, but in reality, it is applicable to everything we do in S&C in some way. As we break down our purpose as an industry, we need to understand what the actual point of what we’re doing is in the first place. Having a true intent is the only way we can effectively deliver on our purpose.
The general theme of The Goal is to “Increase Throughput while simultaneously Reducing both Inventory and Operating Expenses.” In other words, we optimize output daily by breaking down what is our throughput (output), inventory (what it takes to make output), and operating expenses (how much it costs to create throughput). Bottom line is that we need to effectively figure out how we can increase whatever it is our actual purpose is.
The Goal is written in narrative form which makes it more relatable and, in a way, more memorable. The narrative is that work and life are constantly crossing over and impact each other tremendously. While we are trying to reach The Goal, the impact of life intersecting with work is important to consider. On the other hand, the ability to compartmentalize work is important to protecting personal life. These are all obvious things that happen in S&C, and having a story to illustrate how to manage this balance is an invaluable tool.
The important message here is understanding what the Goal is in the first place. An example the author gives is including robots on an assembly line and improving local efficiency but not profitability. This creates a bottleneck in inventory, loss of overall efficiency, and decreased profits. In S&C, we have added how many examples of this? Velocity Based Training, Force Plates, Speed Trackers, Heart Rate Monitors, etc have all increased local efficiency, but have they added to the overall throughput?
In order to do this, we need to decide on the Goal collectively. In reality, the goal is to win more games, if we are in the team setting. There are inherently more weighted aspects in an athletic department than S&C, and certain aspects hold more weight at certain times of the year, but collectively, everyone is working towards winning more games. Just as the part of the assembly line that puts the windows or wheels in when making a car will not get credit for making the car but is still critical to the process.
If the throughput is winning more games, then we need to learn to manage inventory and operating expenses. Said differently, optimizing the equipment/staff we have within the time we have to support. Having more resources or time is not the answer; it is maximizing the resources and the time we do have. Throughput eventually comes down to bottlenecks systems and how we manage local inefficiencies. If we have wasted time in our training, we do not need more time; we need to stop wasting time. If we use tools that are more efficient than others, we do not need new tools; we need to increase or decrease efficiency in certain areas to avoid bottlenecks. If we have staff who are not capable, we do not necessarily need new staff. We need to train our staff or realign them so they can be successful.
Check out our Confirmation Bias Module; it goes over how our decisions are influenced by our built-in preference, groups, and skill. The goal is not always in line with our bias, so we need to establish the difference between what we want and what is needed. If you do read this book, try to find the parallels between an assembly line and training. Athletes coming in 3-4x a week, where they start, how they progress through a workout, how they finish—did the training plan accomplish the task on that day to reach the goal? If not, seek out the bottle neck and try to fix it. Increase Throughput while simultaneously Reducing both Inventory and Operating Expenses!