Be Fast or Be Gone: Racing the Clock with Critical Chain Project Management

Remember how Spielberg woke us up about dinosaurs and suddenly everyone was discussing Jurassic Park? Everyone was talking about DNA and the possibilities of technology. While fossils are nice, we need a story!I have been enjoying 'Be Fast or Be Gone' book on my kindle and I also discuss it with my friends. Every day we are seeing exciting things happen in the world of science. Almost all essays seem to say, 'someday this approach can help cure...' And we wonder when that day is coming.I think Scherer has done something wonderful, which I believe is the future of business & Science writing. He has combined story telling with the principals that we can apply in our daily lives. The book injects emotion into what is usually seen simply as a process and in so doing it breathes life into machine. Mike Knight, must at all costs, get the project done because the stakes are too high. In this situation Mike Knight is not just a coffee driven workaholic. His process improvement strategies are not just dry principals; they are in fact the tools by which Mike Knight can save his son. I like this passionate approach by Scherer.Its one thing to make a project move faster, but the question that always remains is why? Why bother? In this book, the answer is provided and it got me thinking. What if we remove all our excuses and we really, really, want to get something done. What are the things we would do? And those are the things our hero Mike Knight and his team will do in this book. From the first pages of this book you will enter the 'no excuse zone' and it will keep you there. Get ready to be faster. Get ready to be inspired.Minhaj ArifinAuthor of How Desis Became The Greatest Nation On Earth

This book was fun for me to read...but I read all the TOC novels. It has the necessary elements to convey the truths of Critical Chain in an interesting format. It is more descriptive than proscriptive and so be warned that if you are looking for a 'How To' this is not the book. The one flaw was that the sequences where critical chain project managment software was used felt a bit 'deus ex machina' for me. I believe this reflects the fact that the author is selling software and consulting in this space. Not a huge deal; I have purchased several copies of the book and have them out on loan so I am overall a big fan of the approach and highly recommend the read.

Urgency is the mother of invention and this is the moral to this story. For me this story reminds me that taking time to look and plan and look again and course correct. We have to support others to figure out where the hold ups are and to get rid of our hold ups. All of this is important. A hold up is just like the word implies....it "steals" the end result from coming sooner. Not being a project manager in the way described in the book yet having my personal and professional projects I have to mange, I found this a gentle yet profound way to get me moving faster with more thoughtfulness. So if you need a little inspiration to speed up your slow project this book just might be the ticket! Thanks Mr. Scherer!

I picked up this book on the advice of another PM who was using Critical Chain Project Management for his portfolio. In general, a quick read and well written.Pros:1. Presented a different, less confrontational approach to network diagram building than our original CCPM consultants recommended.2. Excellent first book to mandate for a CCPM roll out, similar to 'The Goal' for Theory of ConstraintsCons:1. Assumes the scope and requirements for the project in the story are known and easily agreed upon by the project's leadership. I have not had that happen yet for a Software R&D project

A fluent novel on Critical Chain. Tender, touchy story. There is a father and his brain cancer suffering son. There is a likely drug but it isi in R&D phase. Poor father is trying to make them faster to save his son.Basic principles laid in the novel smartly.Basic objections have been raised and replied suitably.In the beginning it was a single Project but eventually it becomes multiproject environment.Must be very familiar and friendly for pharmacy related R&D people.

This book does a great job of introducing critical chain concepts and what it takes to get a large organization on board for an important business commitment. Having worked intensely with the critical chain project management methodology, I can attest that the scenarios are realistic, and that impressive positive outcomes will occur when there is top down management support, and good training provided to the project teams. A 35% cycle time reduction is no exaggeration.The author does a nice job of explaining the counter-productivity of multitasking by describing the results when someone reads many books simultaneously rather than first finishing one, then starting a new one. He also shows how very compatible critical chain is with lean six sigma programs.

I have read and reread Andrea's book. I think it is a very important book in the world of TOC. It fixes the problems of Eli Goldratt's original novel (Critical Chain) which launched the subject in 1997. Eli's book is not his best : the description of the approcah is incomplete (an easy criticism 14 years later!) and it too often adresses other issues (MBAs, ...).I often give a copy of "Be Fast And Be Gone" to people who are curious about CCPM. It pleasantly explains why this is a powerful approach and how to implement it.Philip MarrisParis France

The in depth dealing of issues pertaining to new product developments in already cash rich pharmaceutical industries in classical CCPM/TOC way, again assuming critical chain is the only factor to be considered to get success in projects. TOC /CCPM methods should come up with real world industry examples for success stories /cases dealing the issues in a new start ups where cost, material, resources(human), budget constraints are also there.

Fantastic book. A must read for somebody who consumes information in a practical way better than dry academic books. Really enjoyed it.

Be Fast or Be Gone è un romanzo dedicato alla Theory of Constraints, stilisticamente sulla stessa linea di The Goal di Goldratt. Il tema tecnico trattato è focalizzato sulla critical chain, la catena critica. Rispetto ad altri romanzi della TOC, questo è certamente uno dei più leggibili, sebbene i personaggi siano bidimensionali e un po' scontati.Ciò che lascia perplessi di questo libro è la completa mancanza di dettagli su Critical Chain stessa. Certo, ci sono alcuni passaggi in cui i vari personaggi tengono discussioni sulla sindrome dello studente e concetti simili ma in realtà il libro è molto più un romanzo che un trattato. Ciò che ho imparato di nuovo sul tema TOC è quasi nullo. E questo è davvero un peccato visto il tempo speso nella lettura.

Nachdem ich die Bücher von Goldratt gelesen habe, hat mich dieses nichts neues gebracht.Der Critical Chain Beitrag wird vom zu dramatischem Grundraster der Kinderkrankheit überflutet.Die ständige Werbung für das Software, das der Schriftsteller anbietet, macht das ganze noch unangenehmer.Aus meiner Sicht: nicht zu empfehlen

Vivid description of how to in breathtaking stories. It clearly shows you the way to put things together and make them work. I highly recommend this book to everyone

Un « business thriller » fortement recommandé pour tous ceux qui travaillent dans l'industrie pharmaceutique. L'histoire de comment diviser par 2 le Time To Market dans l'industrie pharmaceutique pour sauver son fils en utilisant l'approche "Chaîne Critique" de la Theorie des Contraintes.