For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual.

The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular.

Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of them are old. Some of them are business leaders, some thought leaders, some sportsmen and some coaches. Some of them are artists and some spiritual leaders.

However, if we look deeply, all of them are like you and me, ordinary people who’ve had an extra-ordinary impact on me and potentially a lot of others. And once you get to know them, may be they will have a similar impact on you as well or maybe not, only time will tell.

The reason I am putting together this list and share what I have learnt from them, to thank them publicly for being a teacher and teaching me important lessons in life and in the hope that some of you might be inspired by their company and they can impact you and your life as they have impacted mine.

So, let’s get started.

1. Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Dr. Goldratt is known as the father of the “Theory of Constraints”. He has many best selling books to his credit. I have read every single book that he wrote at least 5 times. I read his best selling book – “The Goal” at least 10 times. His other books include “It’s Not Luck“, “Critical Chain“, “Isn’t it Obvious“, “Necessary but not sufficient” and “The Choice“

If there is one thinker whose thinking has had the most significant impact on me and the way I think, it is Dr. Goldratt without any doubt. His theory of constraints is one of the most simplest and yet one of the most impactful theory that I have known. It is the one of the most practical theory. I know I am contradicting myself here but as someone said, there is nothing as practical as a good theory.

I first read his book – The Goal about 22 years back. I was just starting my career and was working in a business which was hugely cyclical and in an industry which was very inefficient as a whole. I learnt about the theory by putting it in practice at work. Every time i didn’t get the result that I expected from the changes I made, I would go back to the book and read it again to try and understand what went wrong and how can I correct it.

I was able to do some interesting work within the business and bring supply chain innovations by shifting the bottlenecks as close to the customers as possible and in the process saved a ton of money for the business and created a significant competitive advantage for the business.

So, in a way, the early success in my career is due to the impact of Dr. Goldratt and his thinking. Even today, every time I am up against something really difficult, subconsciously, I activate what I learnt from Dr. Goldratt and more often than not, the solution seems obvious (in retrospect).

My podcast is called “Pushing Beyond the Obvious” because of one of his books – “Isn’t it Obvious”.

His books are usually in the form of novels or in the form of a conversation between two people. All learning happens between a teacher and a student, with the teacher prompting and the student acting, followed by reflecting together.

So, when I read his books, I put myself in the shoes of his students and think about what would Dr. Goldratt ask me in this situation and more often than not, I ask the question, which inevitably leads me to an answer that helps.

In my opinion, he is one of the foremost management thinkers the world has had. Last year, I had the opportunity to engage with his son, Rami Goldratt and I had butterflies in my stomach. I was star struck. He is continuing his father’s legacy and adding his own elements to it.

Here are some of Dr. Goldratt’s videos that I have watched multiple times, in which he explains his thinking:

Basics of Theory of Constraints – Part 1:

Basics of Theory of Constraints – Part 2:

Matter of Choice:

A playlist of videos by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt:

One of the significant thinking that came out from him is that the most important and significant constraint any business could face was “Management Attention“. Rami Goldratt has been talking about this and expanding this theory and thinking significantly.

Here is Rami talking about this concept.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I would only say one thing – Thank you Dr. Goldratt. I would not be the person that I am today, if I had not discovered you as my educator, coach and mentor. Like Eklavya, I have learnt a lot from you, watching your videos, reading your books and walking alongside you in my mind.

IF you are already a leader or aspire to be one, I strongly recommend that you read about Dr. Goldratt’s thinking about “Management Attention being the ultimate constraint” and watch the video in which Rami expands on this concept (linked above). I am sure you will be a better leader for having watched and learnt from it.

I wish for every one of my friends, readers and listeners a teacher as good as Dr. Goldratt was for me and hopefully, he continue to find students who keep his legacy alive.