Sometimes visiting an old book or philosophy can stimulate some new thinking. I was recently reminded of this with the death of Steven Covey, author ofThe Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. Another book that you may have read a while ago, or not read at all if you are younger, isThe Goalby Eli Goldratt. This book was originally published in 1984, revised in 1986 and again in 1992, which is the current version. It's unusual for a book about business theory to be written as a piece of fiction.  However, the story focuses on a plant manager who is about to have his plant closed, which makes the book an easy read as well as more entertaining than many business books.

The author states that the goal of any business is to make money now and in the future.

Eli Goldratt is considered a maverick and his philosophy and theories were not always well received. He was an Israeli physicist who became a business management guru. He was the originator of the Optimized Production Technique, the Theory of Constraints (TOC), the Thinking Processes, Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) and other TOC derived tools. Some people accuse Eli of ripping off some of his ideas from other sources.  But whether wholly original or not, they are presented in a clear manner that is easy to understand.