Goldratt Research Labs

Stand on Their Shoulders

Discover decades of Theory of Constraints knowledge, practical tools, simulations, and applications designed to help you identify bottlenecks, make better decisions, test your thinking, and turn insight into action.

FIND → THINK → TEST → IMPROVE
01 / Discover

FIND

Find the bottleneck—and the knowledge you need to understand it.

Search decades of TOC knowledge, books, papers, videos, historic resources, and practical insights.

Everything you need to find, understand, and break bottlenecks using TOC thinking and practical tools.

Created by Dr. Alan Barnard, Stand on Their Shoulders brings decades of Theory of Constraints knowledge, practical tools, simulations, and applications together in one growing digital platform.

Whether you are trying to identify what is really limiting performance, decide what to change, determine what to change to, or turn an improvement idea into action , the platform gives you access to both the thinking and the practical tools to help you move forward.

Inspired by Dr. Eli Goldratt’s challenge to stand on the shoulders of giants and look further , the platform combines foundational TOC knowledge and historic resources with Alan’s own body of work, modernized simulations, interactive decision tools, and AI-enabled capabilities.

It is more than a library of TOC content. It is a working resource for finding and breaking bottlenecks —helping you learn from the giants of TOC, apply their thinking to today’s challenges, test ideas, make better decisions, and continue the process of ongoing improvement.

Through TOCICO’s partnership with Goldratt Research Labs, TOCICO members receive special pricing on access to this growing collection of knowledge and tools.

FIND → THINK → TEST → IMPROVE
02 / Understand

THINK

Use TOC thinking to decide what to change.

Apply Alan’s decision tools, Harmony applications, cause-and-effect logic, and TOC knowledge to understand the problem and develop a solution.

Learn from decades of TOC knowledge.

Explore 10 books and approximately 30 position papers by Dr. Alan Barnard , including material not otherwise commercially published, together with historic and hard-to-find TOC resources from Dr. Eli Goldratt and other influential thinkers.

Find the knowledge you need, when you need it.

Search across a growing library of articles, books, videos, interviews, podcasts, playbooks, Q&A, LinkedIn posts, quotes, and historic POOGI Forum correspondence —including material dating back to 1983.

Turn TOC thinking into better decisions.

Use interactive applications such as Harmony Decide and Harmony Achievement to support problem solving, decision making, Strategy & Tactic development, planning, and simulation.

FIND → THINK → TEST → IMPROVE
03 / Experiment

TEST

Test your thinking before you implement.

Use simulations, interactive applications, and the Inventory Digital Twin to experiment with alternatives and see their potential impact.

Experiment before you implement.

Explore modernized Goldratt simulations, including production and project scenarios, with updated KPIs and the ability to upload and test your own scenarios.

Put flow and inventory strategies to the test.

With the Inventory Digital Twin, upload your own demand and supply data and compare Min-Max, EOQ, TOC, and DDMRP approaches against your actual performance.

Experience classic TOC concepts interactively.

Work with rebuilt versions of classic simulations including the Dice Game, Product Mix/P&Q Game, and Multitasking Game .

See the logic behind influential ideas.

Explore the Logic Book Library, where classic and modern books are represented through their underlying cause-and-effect logic.

Read it—or listen to it.

Access articles and books in written form or listen to them directly through the platform.

Create learning around your constraint.

Choose the topics, goals, constraints, problems, or thinkers most relevant to you and generate personalized on-demand newsletters around those interests.

Keep discovering.

Stand on Their Shoulders continues to grow as additional historic TOC material, applications, tools, and knowledge are added and made searchable.

FIND → THINK → TEST → IMPROVE
04 / Take Action

IMPROVE

Turn insight into action—and keep improving.

Apply what you learn to break bottlenecks, improve flow and performance, and continue the process of ongoing improvement.

From Knowledge to Action

Find the bottleneck. Understand what is holding you back. Decide what to change. Test your thinking. Take action. Repeat.

Stand on Their Shoulders puts the knowledge of TOC’s giants and practical tools for today’s challenges in one place —so you can spend less time searching for answers and more time improving the system.

What You Will Learn

  • How to identify the bottleneck and understand what is truly limiting performance.

  • How to use TOC thinking and cause-and-effect logic to decide what to change and develop better solutions.

  • How to test ideas before implementation using simulations, interactive tools, and real-world data.

  • How to turn insight into ongoing improvement by breaking constraints, improving flow, and continuously strengthening performance.

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