Many strong links
Most links in a system are strong.
Welcome to Goldratt Research Labs
Every system has ONE constraint.
Do you know which one is holding your organization back?
Then you know where to focus next.
Goldratt Research Labs (GRL) was co-founded by Dr. Eli Goldratt, creator of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), and Dr. Alan Barnard. For more than 15 years we have turned rigorous research into practical tools that help leaders make better, faster decisions when a goal, problem or decision feels impossible.
Dr. Eli Goldratt and Dr. Alan Barnard
Co-founders, Goldratt Research Labs
We have advised decision makers at
The Theory of Constraints
From Many to Few to One
Find the few weak links that hold back the whole system, then focus on the one that limits results.
Few weak links
A few links may be holding you back.
One weakest link
One link limits your results the most.
A call to all of us
“Do not dare stand in my shadow.
Stand on my shoulders.”
Dr. Eli Goldratt, to Dr. Alan Barnard
Honoring a legacy
What happens to a body of knowledge when its creator is gone?
01
Preserve what he built.
It could be admired and kept exactly as it was. That honors the founder. It can also slowly freeze the ideas in place.
02
Keep it growing.
Or it could be tested against new problems and new technology, with respect and curiosity. Both paths honor him. Only one keeps the ideas alive. We chose the second.
- 1984The Goal introduces the Theory of Constraints
- 1997Critical Chain brings TOC to projects
- 2009Goldratt Research Labs is co-founded
- 2011Dr. Eli Goldratt passes away. The work continues.
- TodayCompleting How and taking TOC into AI-powered Digital Twins
See further.
Make the impossible possible.
By asking ... “It's impossible, unless ...?”
Mentor, partner, co-founder
Two founders. One body of knowledge.
Dr. Eli Goldratt and Dr. Alan Barnard worked side by side for nearly two decades. What did the creator of the Theory of Constraints see in the person he trusted to carry it forward?
“Alan is one of the most brilliant, meticulous, and practical people I have ever met, combining deep insight with the rare ability to turn breakthrough ideas into real-world results.”
Dr. Eli Goldratt
Creator of the Theory of Constraints, author of The Goal
Dr. Eli Goldratt
1947 to 2011 · Co-founder
Physicist, educator and author of The Goal, which introduced millions of readers to the Theory of Constraints. He gave the world the Five Focusing Steps, the Thinking Processes, Drum-Buffer-Rope and Critical Chain Project Management, and the conviction that every complex system has an inherent simplicity.
Dr. Alan Barnard
Co-founder and CEO
Entrusted with completing Dr. Eli Goldratt's unfinished manuscript, How. Founding member and past Chairman of the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization (TOCICO), recipient of its 2026 Distinguished Service Award, and Adjunct Professor at Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration.
Our team
Who builds the models behind the results?
Ideas only matter when someone turns them into something that works on Monday morning. Engineers, simulation scientists, strategists and advisors, each bringing a different lens to the same question: what is the one thing to focus on next?
Jaco-Ben Vosloo
VP of Technology
Leads end-to-end supply chain simulation projects, with five years in senior roles at BHP Billiton. BSc in Industrial Engineering, completing an MSc in Simulation.
Dr. Ben Schumann
Simulation
A recognized voice in simulation: keynote speaker, podcast co-host and blogger. PhD in Complex Systems Simulation from the University of Southampton, formerly with decisionLab and McKinsey & Company.
Brad Cartier
Operations Improvement
Three decades applying TOC, Lean and Six Sigma across manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and project environments. BSc in Manufacturing Engineering.
Dr. Panagiote Tsolis
Business Development
Pete brings 20 years of marketing and business development in hospitality and gaming. PhD in Global Leadership and Change, and an Executive MBA.
Karini Goosen
Projects and Simulation
Industrial engineer focused on TOC, Lean Production and continuous improvement. Works on customer projects, simulation modeling and digital marketing.
Grethe Maritz
Content Strategy
Architect with a Master's in Architecture who brings systems thinking to how advanced TOC applications, like the Project and Inventory Digital Twins, are explained and developed.
Kim Larsen
Fractional CFO
Tax strategist and author of The Strategic Taxpayer Manifesto. Heads the National Academy of Tax and Financial Strategists.
Dr. Curt Carlson
Advisor
President and CEO of SRI International from 1998 to 2014, when SRI helped create Siri, HDTV and Intuitive Surgical. Founder of The Practice of Innovation.
2009
Co-founded with Dr. Eli Goldratt
175+
Countries reached
300+
Projects delivered
15,000+
Decisions supported
Standing on shoulders, then seeing further
More than 30 innovations that extend the body of knowledge.
They build on Dr. Eli Goldratt, Russell Ackoff, Nassim Taleb and others. Are they all equally useful? Of course not. But a handful have become everyday tools for leaders, teams and coaches around the world.
01
Cumulative Flow Diagram
Invented during an engagement with Cisco. One picture of work entering, flowing through and leaving a system, now used by Agile and Kanban teams everywhere.
02
ProConCloud Method
A five-step way to resolve hard decisions, each step designed to prevent one of five common decision mistakes. The engine inside the award-winning Harmony Decision Maker.
03
ONE Thing Focusing Cycle
Progress gets stuck at one of six stages. Find which one, and you know the one thing to focus on next.
04
The 5 R's of Decision Making
Random, Reflex, React, Respond, Resonance. Extends Jack Canfield's E + R = O and names the mind's three constraints: attention, trust and energy.
05
Fragile to Robust to Antifragile
Expands Nassim Taleb's framework with a fourth system type, Boom-Bust, and a Step 0 that comes before limiting downside and capturing upside.
Where to focus first
Is your goal more, faster, better, cheaper or simpler?
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. But is strength always the goal? Start with one goal. It tells you which link to look for.
More
Not meeting demand? Find the weakest link.
Faster
Meeting demand but too slow? Find the longest link.
Better
Quality falling short? Find the faultiest link.
Cheaper
Costs too high? Find the heaviest link.
Simpler
Too complex? Remove the unnecessary links.
Results
What happens when an organization focuses on the right one thing?
Not always a small, steady gain. Sometimes a turnaround nobody thought possible. Here are four.
Microsoft · Global supply chain
$250M
Inventory reduction, with service levels up 5% and more than $100M in markdown savings. Implemented in under nine months.
“The outcome has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Robert Meshew, CTO, Microsoft Global Supply Chain
Premier Foods · South Africa
7,300%
Increase in enterprise value over five years of work with Dr. Eli Goldratt and Dr. Alan Barnard, the highest return of any company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
“Alan has a knack for relentlessly making you think beyond obvious and marginal solutions.”
Ian Visser, former CEO, Premier Foods
Tata Steel Europe · United Kingdom
£300M
Swing in one year. A business facing closure went from losing £1M a day to making £1M a day, and more than 6,000 jobs were saved.
With Bimlendra Jha, former Executive Director, Tata Steel Europe
Global turbine manufacturer · Projects
$286M
Swing on a project portfolio headed for a $181M loss and more than two years late, using simulation and Critical Chain Project Management across more than 100 programs.
In their own words
Numbers tell you what happened. People tell you what it was like.
“Few have continued developing the Theory of Constraints body of knowledge like Alan Barnard. His work has truly enriched the world.”
“His work is impeccable; he’s exquisitely clear.”
“In one day, I was able to solve a business decision that had frustrated me for a year.”
Who we serve
Does this only work in factories?
It is a fair question. TOC was born on the shop floor. Yet the logic of flow and focus applies wherever there is a goal and a limited resource. Is there an organization where that is not true? We have worked with leaders in the private sector, in government and in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Private sector
- High tech, manufacturing and construction
- Cisco, Microsoft, ABB, Siemens Gas Turbines, Amazon Robotics, Daiwa House, Cargill
- Metals and mining
- Tata Steel, Novelis, Jindal Steel and Power, BHP, African Explosives, Vulcan Coal
- Publishing and consumer goods
- Random House, Macmillan with ReaderLink, Scholastic, Ralph Lauren, Nike
- Small and medium manufacturers
- ChemTech, APEX Cord Solutions, Precision Precast Erectors, Realization
Public sector
- Government
- Utah Governor's Office of Management and Budget
- Municipal services
- Lusaka Solid Waste Management, Zambia, with InWEnt
- Education and policy
- Carleton University, Duke University, The Da Vinci Institute
NGOs and development
- Humanitarian supply chains
- United Nations World Food Programme
- Development
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Youth and education
- The Odyssey Program, teaching young people to think critically and decide well
Put the thinking to work
From 24 months to 24 seconds.
In 2015, a supply chain simulation took 3 to 24 months to build. Today our AI-powered Digital Twins take 3 to 24 seconds, built directly from your data. Can a model built that fast be trusted? Only if it can replay the past. So every twin runs your current rules and must reproduce your actual historical inventory and shipments before it advises on the future.
Recognition
Recognized by peers, not just clients.
- 2026TOCICO Distinguished Service Award, and election to the TOCICO Board
- 2026Adjunct Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University
- 2017Global Entrepreneur Network Innovation Award, Harmony Decision Maker
- 2014Second place, AnyLogic global simulation modeling competition, for a 3D steel plant model built for Tata Steel
- 2013Finalist, Silicon Valley Business App Awards, Harmony Change Maker
Books
A working library, not a summary.
From Fragile to Robust to AntifragileForeword by Jack Canfield
From Crisis to Catch-Up to Keep-UpSolving impossible problems
My Impossible DecisionDeciding when every option hurts
Impossible UnlessChallenging hidden assumptions
The Logic BooksThinking tools for clear reasoning
Dr. Alan Barnard also wrote the forewords for Throughput Economics, ERA III Medicine and Scale Not Fail.
Beyond the lab
Does the Theory of Constraints only belong in boardrooms?
We don't think so. The same question, what is the one thing to focus on next, works for a leader, a student, a child and a patient. So the work has grown into a family of initiatives.
Library and AIStand on Their ShouldersThe thinking of the Giants, from posts and Q&A to books, playbooks and Ask Dr. Alan.standontheirshoulders.com
For leadersCoaching with Dr. Alan BarnardOne-on-one help to find and break through the constraint holding you back.coaching.dralanbarnard.com
For young peopleThe Odyssey FoundationA global movement teaching young minds to think critically, decide well and overcome real-life challenges.theodysseyfoundation.org
For childrenTOC for ChildrenStories and TOC thinking tools that prepare children for a future shaped by AI and robotics.tocforchildren.org
For healthEternityHealth.AICo-founded with longevity pioneer Dr. Graham Simpson. Finds and strengthens the biggest constraint on your healthspan.eternityhealth.ai
Start a conversation
Your next impossible goal does not have to be faced alone.
So, what is the one thing holding you back? Tell us your goal and what seems to stand in the way. Whether you lead a company, a government agency, an NGO or your own career, we will reply within 24 hours with a first view of where to focus.