I like the format, characters are interesting in the novel style portrayal of a company getting to grips with productivity problems and the impact on personal lives, these sections are very real.

The theory of constraints, is too grand a title for what can only be described as the business equivalent of the Snake under the Persian carpet story. A man finds a lump in his carpet, hits it hard and it disappears only to find it reappearing somewhere else a few days later. This continues for several weeks until someone lifts the carpet to find a very disgruntled snake. Identifying and removing single constraints in the production process and then waiting for the next to appear is just absurd. However the process is seductive because it gets results, the lump disappears after all and if it re-appears in another guise somewhere else, well that's perceived as a new problem, requiring a new solution, perhaps a heavier hammer to hit the snake with is in order?. I suggest Mr. Goldratt and Mr. Cox lift the carpet and take a look at what is really going on.

All that said, its well written and an excellent read, I could not put it down, perhaps one day someone will write the lean principles version.