Another good podcast for Managers: "What Great Bosses Know"

For those who read my blog or know me well, you know I love podcasts, especially great educational podcasts that are free-of-charge. Between podcasts and audiobooks, my commute has become very enjoyable and I don't mind getting stuck in traffic while listening to a great presentation or book.

I came across another great management how-to podcast. It's called "What Great Bosses Know" and can be freely downloaded from iTunes or listened to directly at the link http://poynter.podomatic.com/. Like my favorite podcast "ManagerTools", "What Great Bosses Know" gives advice that you can immediately implement. Unlike many so called informational seminars or training sessions that speak in generalities, this podcast gives concrete advice and tells you what to do to improve at work. You can listen to it during your morning commute and literally implement the advice when you get to work.

Each podcast is only 3 to 4 minutes long so it's great for short periods of listening time.

As always, let me know if you come across a podcast that you recommend. I'm always on the lookout for great advice. The key is to never stop learning.

The Goal is an important read for understanding the Theory of Constraints...just wish it was a powerpoint presentation rather than a romance novel.

Personally, I don't like the narrative style of management books and did not like The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. I don't know if Dr. Goldratt had dreams of writing romance fiction novels, but I felt there is WAY too much fluff and needless side story that isn't critical to moving the story along. I admire and appreciate the production management concepts introduced such as identifying throughput bottlenecks, increasing flow, reducing work-in-progress/inventory, and realizing how localized optima can actually decrease overall efficiency of the entire system.

Since this book introduced the topic of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to the management field, it's a must read for anyone interested in TOC and how to implement it in manufacturing production. The book does a very good job of teaching that simple cost reduction and capital expenditure metrics can be very misleading or worse, downright unproductive. I just wish the book focused more on the theory and practice of TOC and less on marital stress and the main character's relationship with his mother and in-laws

In short: Do I recommend The Goal?

Yes, if you are a student of TOC or want to learn more about manufacturing production management theory. Just be prepared to read about boy-scout hikes, marital problems, mother-son relationships, and what pizza toppings the characters are eating.