Why Have We Written a Business Novel? Now Available!

If you had to choose between reading a text book about business and reading a good story, you might be more tempted by the story. But what if you didn’t have to make that choice? What if you could learn about a transformational approach to business and read a darn good story at the same time? That is what we’re working on.

The idea is not new. Eli Goldratt wrote several business novels about the Theory of Constraints. The most famous of these is ‘The Goal’, recently mentioned by the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos who gives it to all his top executives to read. Goldratt’s books are page turning stories that communicate to the reader important notions of his theory. Intelligent Management is picking up the baton. We are working on a new business novel that tells a fast-paced story that takes place through the recent financial crisis.

Standing on the shoulders of giants 

In the Goldratt tradition of standing on the shoulders of giants, we asked ourselves if there were any way to further the business novel genre. We believe there are two aspects that need to be addressed. One is literary and one is technical. On the literary side, a good novel needs to have well-defined characters. On the technical side, a business novel needs to communicate knowledge to the reader. Our solution is to produce a novel that has characters with some depth to carry an enticing story, and at the same time, offer knowledge through electronic access to technical details and logical maps. In this way the reader is exposed to major aspects of the Decalogue approach as the story unfolds, and they can access as much  further explanation as they wish. We are fortunate that it is possible to create e-books today to convey information in a completely new way. On the writing side, this is a second novel for Angela Montgomery and she is privileged to have the mentorship of acclaimed American writer, Donald Freed.

A work in Progress

We understand today better than ever that many barriers are artificial. That is why we propose an integrative and systemic model for organizations. Similarly, science, business and novels do not need to be separate domains. Research shows us how fiction affects the brain in a way that can enhance learning:” Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto (and a published novelist), has proposed that reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that “runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers.” See ‘Your Brain on Fiction’ in  New York Times.

The Human Constraint is a business novel+website. It is now available here www.thehumanconstraint.ca