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My system does not make sense at all, but by God it’s working.

— Eliyahu M. Goldratt

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Source: Goldratt, E. M. (1990). What is this thing called theory of constraints and how should it be implemented? New York: North River Press. p. 28
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

[Throughput is the] rate at which the system generates money through sales.

The Haystack Syndrome (1990)

If the goal is to make money, then (putting it in terms Jonah might have used), an action that moves us toward making money is productive. And an action that takes away from making money is non-productive.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (1984)

Companies are so immersed in the mentality of saving money that they forget that the whole intention of a project is not to save money but to make money.

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More quotes by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Tell me how you measure me, and I will tell you how I will behave.

The Haystack Syndrome (1990)

There are three measurements which express the goal of making money perfectly well, but which also permit you to develop operational rules for running your plant. Their names are throughput, inventory and operational expense.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (1984)

Fundamentally, a manager is looking to answer these questions: ‘what to change?’,’ what to change to?’ and ‘ how to cause the change?’

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (1984)

[Operating expense is defined as] all the money the system spends in turning inventory into throughput.

The Haystack Syndrome (1990)

[Inventory is measured by] the money the system invests in purchasing things the system intends to sell.

The Haystack Syndrome (1990)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Eliyahu M. Goldratt (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.