We begin the First Friday of this month, December 2015, with a final post, in an end to the monthly series of another of my Favorite Gurus, with  Eli Goldratt.

I never met Eli, but I read two of his books, including The Goal, which I read twice and then listened to it on tape twice (back in the 1990s when vehicles had cassette tape players) while driving back and forth between my home in the suburbs of Chicago and my client’s offices in the suburbs of Detroit.

Goldratt’s Drum-Buffer-Rope (the Theory of Constraints) is an important concept for Performance Improvement professionals of all stripes IMO.

About Eli Goldratt

From Wikipedia

Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (March 31, 1947 – June 11, 2011) 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…

Philip B. Crosby

June 18, 1926 – August 18, 2001

I did not know Philip Crosby, but I learned from his writings, articles and books – and I used some of his writings and materials in developing quality training back in 1981 and 1982 for my internal Manufacturing, Materials and Purchasing clients’ key people – at MTEC – Motorola’s Training & Education Center, specifically this 1979 book:

Everyone was reading it – this book – back then – in the early 1980s. It was one of “those.”

And then later I read this 1984 book …

From Wikipedia

Philip Bayard “Phil” Crosby, (June 18, 1926 – August 18, 2001) was a businessman and author who contributed to management…

This month we start the First Friday of December 2013 with another of my favorite gurus…

Bill Wiggenhorn

Bill hired me at MTEC – Motorola’s Training & Education Center in April 1981. It had to do directly with my use of the Rummler name. More on that later. Years after I left in the fall of 1982 that MTEC organization became Motorola University and itself became associated with the creation and dissemination of Six Sigma – which also relates to the Rummler name. Bill remarks about all of that in a Geary Rummler Tribute video from April 2009 (also presented later).

I worked for Bill from April 1981 until November 1982 when I joined Ray Svenson’s firm, where my wife also worked, as Bill had suggested THAT to Ray a year earlier.

Bill was the best Training/Learning executive I have ever worked with – and I have had 75 clients…

This month we start on the First Friday of December 2012 with another of my favorite gurus…

Robert F. Mager

Or – Bob Mager

I did not have a personal or professional relationship with Bob until many years after he retired. I had met him, and his wife Eileen, at many NSPI Conferences back in the 1980s and early 1990s – but we became email buddies doing NSPI/ISPI business much later. Now he sends me signed copies of his latest books, mostly fiction. I have posted on some of those – and the latest is here.

Then there was the very recent update to his 1986 “How To Write a Book Book” that I also posted on last week – here.

My first exposure to Bob Mager – was through his writings, in particular, this book…

In my first job in ISD right out of college, Kansas University…