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The Haystack Syndrome: Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean
A "must" for every manager concerned with meeting the challenges of the 21st century. You'll see the differences between data and information in a new light, and understand precisely how misunderstanding those differences can affect the quality of your decision-making process. Starting with the structure of an organization, The Haystack Syndrome ends with a detailed description of the logic that must underpin the information system for any organization to maximize effectiveness.
262 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
53 people are currently reading
414 people want to read
About the author
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
36 books704 followersEliyahu Moshe Goldratt (Hebrew: אליהו משה גולדרט) was an educator, author, physicist, philosopher and business leader, but first and foremost, he was a thinker who provoked others to think. Often characterized as unconventional, stimulating, and “a slayer of sacred cows,” he urged his audience to examine and reassess their business practices with a fresh, new vision.
Dr. Goldratt is best known as the father of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a process of ongoing improvement that identifies and leverages a system’s constraints in order to achieve the system’s goals. He introduced TOC’s underlying concepts in his business novel, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, which has been recognized as one of the best-selling business books of all time. First published in 1984, The Goal has been updated three times and sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. It has been translated into 35 languages.
Heralded as a “guru to industry” by Fortune magazine and “a genius” by Business Week, Dr. Goldratt continued to advance the TOC body of knowledge throughout his life, building on the Five Focusing Steps (the process of ongoing improvement, known as POOGI) with TOC-derived tools such as Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) and the Thinking Processes. He authored ten other TOC-related books, including four business novels: It’s Not Luck (the sequel to The Goal), Critical Chain, Necessary but Not Sufficient and Isn’t It Obvious? His last book, The Choice, was co-authored by his daughter Efrat Ashlang-Goldratt.
Born in Israel on March 31, 1947, Dr. Goldratt earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University. He is the founder of TOC for Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing TOC Thinking and TOC tools to teachers and their students, and Goldratt Consulting. In addition to his pioneering work in business management and education, Dr. Goldratt holds patents in a number of areas ranging from medical devices to drip irrigation to temperature sensors. He died on June 11, 2011, at the age of 64.
Dr. Goldratt is best known as the father of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a process of ongoing improvement that identifies and leverages a system’s constraints in order to achieve the system’s goals. He introduced TOC’s underlying concepts in his business novel, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, which has been recognized as one of the best-selling business books of all time. First published in 1984, The Goal has been updated three times and sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. It has been translated into 35 languages.
Heralded as a “guru to industry” by Fortune magazine and “a genius” by Business Week, Dr. Goldratt continued to advance the TOC body of knowledge throughout his life, building on the Five Focusing Steps (the process of ongoing improvement, known as POOGI) with TOC-derived tools such as Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) and the Thinking Processes. He authored ten other TOC-related books, including four business novels: It’s Not Luck (the sequel to The Goal), Critical Chain, Necessary but Not Sufficient and Isn’t It Obvious? His last book, The Choice, was co-authored by his daughter Efrat Ashlang-Goldratt.
Born in Israel on March 31, 1947, Dr. Goldratt earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University. He is the founder of TOC for Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing TOC Thinking and TOC tools to teachers and their students, and Goldratt Consulting. In addition to his pioneering work in business management and education, Dr. Goldratt holds patents in a number of areas ranging from medical devices to drip irrigation to temperature sensors. He died on June 11, 2011, at the age of 64.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 21, 2019
I bought the book because I oversee MRO production. I began working on constraint busting while reading it. I have to say it gave me a lot of good ideas and it was very relevant to what I do everyday. Great book!
July 24, 2010
Thumbs Down on "Sifting Information" Out of this Book!
In 1979, Eliyahu Goldratt wowed a half million readers, most of whom manufacturing managers, with his brilliant and fun novel "The Goal" about how to make a production plant really work. This fictional and entertaining account of a desperate plant manager, who takes a common sense approach to running a factory, formed the backdrop for the author to challenge conventional wisdom regarding the real purposes of manufacturing. Meanwhile, provoking us with innovative and thoughtful definitions about some of the most everyday concepts in our vocabulary, Goldratt indeed opened our minds to new ways of thinking about throughput, inventory, and expense.
It was reasonable to assume from the title of this work, and its sub-title "Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean", that our author may now have turned his sights upon the information processing environment, with hopefully some equally provocative and enlightening concepts to share. Alas, this is no "Diehard 2". Gone is the fictional narrative and easy writing style that made the first story come alive with real life scenarios. Gone are the bold redefinitions of familiar terms. And gone is the general applicability of this dusty tome, as it turns out not at all for information practitioners and professionals, but rather for those poor minions trying to successfully schedule a factory floor.
The book starts out trying to discern the difference between data and information, hardly a profound concept. Then we're treated to a long-winded regurgitation of the Goal (in case we didn't get it the first time, we guess...); followed by an onslaught of arguments about the pitfalls of manufacturing cost accounting. Then we get numerous chapters on how to use software (presumably) to handle the sophisticated twists and turns of a shop floor schedule, which had literally no general appeal at all. (We would normally have given up by now had we not the intent to scribble these words...) Then at the end, almost in testimony to a weak effort, (the last) Chapter 40 just ends - no grand summary, no review of points and conclusions, no suggestions for further study or endeavor - just a period at the end of the last sentence.
What a disappointment.
In 1979, Eliyahu Goldratt wowed a half million readers, most of whom manufacturing managers, with his brilliant and fun novel "The Goal" about how to make a production plant really work. This fictional and entertaining account of a desperate plant manager, who takes a common sense approach to running a factory, formed the backdrop for the author to challenge conventional wisdom regarding the real purposes of manufacturing. Meanwhile, provoking us with innovative and thoughtful definitions about some of the most everyday concepts in our vocabulary, Goldratt indeed opened our minds to new ways of thinking about throughput, inventory, and expense.
It was reasonable to assume from the title of this work, and its sub-title "Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean", that our author may now have turned his sights upon the information processing environment, with hopefully some equally provocative and enlightening concepts to share. Alas, this is no "Diehard 2". Gone is the fictional narrative and easy writing style that made the first story come alive with real life scenarios. Gone are the bold redefinitions of familiar terms. And gone is the general applicability of this dusty tome, as it turns out not at all for information practitioners and professionals, but rather for those poor minions trying to successfully schedule a factory floor.
The book starts out trying to discern the difference between data and information, hardly a profound concept. Then we're treated to a long-winded regurgitation of the Goal (in case we didn't get it the first time, we guess...); followed by an onslaught of arguments about the pitfalls of manufacturing cost accounting. Then we get numerous chapters on how to use software (presumably) to handle the sophisticated twists and turns of a shop floor schedule, which had literally no general appeal at all. (We would normally have given up by now had we not the intent to scribble these words...) Then at the end, almost in testimony to a weak effort, (the last) Chapter 40 just ends - no grand summary, no review of points and conclusions, no suggestions for further study or endeavor - just a period at the end of the last sentence.
What a disappointment.
August 13, 2015
"Let's not fool ourselves that it is possible to change our company's cultura through a computer".
- Eliyahu Goldratt
O livro é uma leitura obrigatória para quem leu o "A Meta" e gostou. Goldratt começa discutindo os conceitos de dados e informação e desenvolve uma argumentação que leva-nos a concluir que o tal "data ocean" é fruto de um processo de tomada de decisão atualmente falho. A falha no processo de tomada de decisão é a adoção dos conceitos embasados no "Mundo dos Custos", um paradigma que, segundo Goldratt, está ultrapassado. Como alternativa, o autor introduz o conceito de "Mundo dos Ganhos", base para sua Teoria das Restrições. Segue daí uma discussão para determinar a fundamentação de um sistema de informações para gerenciamento de operações.
- Eliyahu Goldratt
O livro é uma leitura obrigatória para quem leu o "A Meta" e gostou. Goldratt começa discutindo os conceitos de dados e informação e desenvolve uma argumentação que leva-nos a concluir que o tal "data ocean" é fruto de um processo de tomada de decisão atualmente falho. A falha no processo de tomada de decisão é a adoção dos conceitos embasados no "Mundo dos Custos", um paradigma que, segundo Goldratt, está ultrapassado. Como alternativa, o autor introduz o conceito de "Mundo dos Ganhos", base para sua Teoria das Restrições. Segue daí uma discussão para determinar a fundamentação de um sistema de informações para gerenciamento de operações.
March 19, 2013
Очень внятно про основные показатели эффективности бизнеса.
January 8, 2023
Buenas tardes. Aquí estamos de nuevo para reseñar un nuevo libro. Se trata de un libro técnico y muy recomendable en estos tiempos. Creo recordar que fue el segundo libro que leí hace tiempo durante los estudios. Y he de reconocer que en un primer lugar la temática, los datos, la información, no me suscitaban tanto interés. Estructurado en tres grandes bloques en sus 233 páginas, "Formalización del Proceso de Decisión", la "Arquitectura de un Sistema de Información", y por último la "Programación", el autor Eliyau, narra y explica al mismo tiempo la importancia de los datos y por ende de los sistemas de información, para lo que, una de las claves en una en una empresa, que es la toma de decisiones. En el paso de los años este libro se ha convertido en uno de mis preferidos porque es un referente el área de las TIC y por supuesto personalmente porque es fuente recurrente de consulta. Qué día que a pesar de los años, continua en plena actualidad, y más si cabe con la infoxicación de datos, hándicap para poder analizar y procesar los datos. Por supuesto recomiendo su lectura.
Con sus 100.296 palabras este libro se puede leer en 4,179 horas, pero dada que es un tema técnico y que requiere su reflexión recomiendo una lectura más pausada. Muchas gracias. Editorial Díaz de Santos. ¡Muchas gracias por leer mi reseña y hasta pronto!
Con sus 100.296 palabras este libro se puede leer en 4,179 horas, pero dada que es un tema técnico y que requiere su reflexión recomiendo una lectura más pausada. Muchas gracias. Editorial Díaz de Santos. ¡Muchas gracias por leer mi reseña y hasta pronto!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2021
I had the biggest expectation for this book. It has interesting real life insights for production scheduling and cultural environment in a company.
The while focus of the books is not well explained in the title.
The autor attempts a different narrative, which I didn't find appealing, rather presumptuous and made ideas diffuse.
The while focus of the books is not well explained in the title.
The autor attempts a different narrative, which I didn't find appealing, rather presumptuous and made ideas diffuse.
August 13, 2025
The essential message of this book is to apply the theory of constraints to an enterprise, have information systems get decision-relevant data to decsion-makers, and having base data systems store all data. Not terribly novel, but a good place to start having seen the data practices in the public and private sector.
September 23, 2022
This book definitely added to the other work by essentially "thinking out loud" the entire process.
December 16, 2022
Good book, but quite a bit heavier to get through than for instance the goal.
October 8, 2013
tough book to read but a must-read.
Besides revealing the difference between Data (a set of caracters) and Information (the answer to a question), Eli Goldratt describes in what consists an efficient Information System starting from building the good organization in order to have the good measures, then what data to collect and which information to give based upon that datas.
It's also a pure description of how ToC works in production environment.
Tough book so (the last quarter of the book is hard reading but at the core of the implementation of the Information System), a must-read that deserves several reads.
It's the perfect description of what a TOC MRP should do.
Hence, un must-read for any TOC implementor.
Besides revealing the difference between Data (a set of caracters) and Information (the answer to a question), Eli Goldratt describes in what consists an efficient Information System starting from building the good organization in order to have the good measures, then what data to collect and which information to give based upon that datas.
It's also a pure description of how ToC works in production environment.
Tough book so (the last quarter of the book is hard reading but at the core of the implementation of the Information System), a must-read that deserves several reads.
It's the perfect description of what a TOC MRP should do.
Hence, un must-read for any TOC implementor.
December 29, 2016
Great stuff but...
There is important information here, but compared to the author's other books it takes more effort to understand. Part of it is due to the style, the author has presented the material as if he was conducting a workshop with a running dialog with the participants. He doesn't limit the discussion to what works but explores possibilities suggested by the participants. So at times it gets confusing about what his real point is. The other part affecting understanding is the limited use of graphics. The ones the author provided are quite helpful, he just needed to add more. Still, the book is a worthwhile read just plan on spending more time with it than his other books.
There is important information here, but compared to the author's other books it takes more effort to understand. Part of it is due to the style, the author has presented the material as if he was conducting a workshop with a running dialog with the participants. He doesn't limit the discussion to what works but explores possibilities suggested by the participants. So at times it gets confusing about what his real point is. The other part affecting understanding is the limited use of graphics. The ones the author provided are quite helpful, he just needed to add more. Still, the book is a worthwhile read just plan on spending more time with it than his other books.
August 22, 2017
Not as readable (simplistic) as his novel-based approach to business matters, but this book does have some important and thought-provoking information. You just have to work a little harder to get to the meat. Having worked a job where data for data sake was treated as if it were vital information, it's a book I've wanted to shove into the hands (or elsewhere) of several managers.
I read the book years ago and so thought it would be outdated for the 2010s. Parts of it are, but the basic ideas are still good.
I read the book years ago and so thought it would be outdated for the 2010s. Parts of it are, but the basic ideas are still good.
December 8, 2015
Gave up ~1/2 way in.
It turns out the "business novel" format IS the sweet spot for Goldratt, and this is outside of it.
The conversational paragraphs just keep going without saying anything.
For some reason I find the use of "Murphy" as an anthropormophized proper noun incredibly grating.
Saying "it's just common sense, even if that isn't so common" after many pages of building up to a point is also incredibly grating.
It turns out the "business novel" format IS the sweet spot for Goldratt, and this is outside of it.
The conversational paragraphs just keep going without saying anything.
For some reason I find the use of "Murphy" as an anthropormophized proper noun incredibly grating.
Saying "it's just common sense, even if that isn't so common" after many pages of building up to a point is also incredibly grating.
September 3, 2007
That data and information management should produce a meaningful data in operational process. This book as the same as its predecessor: The Goal, was written in a format of a novel. It shows that information system mostly produce data that looks like a haystack, a data ocean. This must be minimalized in data and information processing capabilities.
Excellent book...
Excellent book...
January 4, 2016
An expanded and different take on the core concept of his book "The Goal." The theory of constraints is one of my favourite business concepts, taught at most business schools, very powerful but completely ignored/forgotten in business. Organizations just not setup to think in a wholistic way. Nor setup to really think through fixed vs. variable costs. Too bad.
February 2, 2011
This book is hard to read. After falling in love with 'The Goal' I couldn't wait to read more of Goldratt. Unfortunately, I picked one of the more scolarly works that turned out to be less intriguing.
January 25, 2016
Like any other Goldratt book, it feels as a bit of TOC propaganda and quite presumptuous, but is still worth reading. Deals with problems caused by technology as a solution without focusing first in the problem.
June 26, 2009
LOusy to read but informative
November 6, 2015
Not as compelling as The Goal was on debottlenecking a process, but offers a different take on information gathering.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews