The 3 Obstacles: How to identify, overcome, and exploit them

by James Ignizio

Are you, your firm, or organization reeling from the aftershocks of yet another failed management fad? Did you know that there are more management and self-help fads than fad diets ... and that their failure, disappointment, and abandonment rates are even worse? Consider, as just one example, the matter of manufacturing management fads. Over the past sixty years more than fifty such fads have been introduced - often with great fanfare - and yet the performance of our nation's factories, supply chains, and business processes have yet to exhibit any significant - or in particular - sustainable improvement. Nor have the decisions made in company boardrooms, our Ivory Towers, the halls of Congress, or the corridors of the Pentagon been perceptibly enhanced by the introduction of such schemes. Management and self-help schemes address the symptoms of problems when what is needed is to identify and then overcome their causes. Those causes are invariably Unnecessary Complexity, Excessive Variability, and Intellectual Myopia ... The Three Obstacles that must be identified and surmounted if there is to be any possibility of the successful and, in particular, sustainable achievement of one's goals. This book describes how this may be accomplished.

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2018

Reviews

[Daniel Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still remember the 3 obstacles after several years, so it was well worth the read. It's true, they are everywhere. I won't spoil it for you, but if you are familiar with operations, management, or engineering they should be very familiar to you. Most issues can be reduced down to these 3.

He also teaches you how to weaponize the 3 obstacles which is pretty neat!