Well I'm reading "The Goal" because I was told I should. My thoughts so far are these:

- The protagonist is pretty dumb. Most of the great revelations so far I guessed immediately, so I'm pretty unimpressed by these moments of clarity in the book.
- The protagonist (and the author) apply the principle of generalising 'goals' ruthlessly to his company and work, but never even stop to consider applying the same ideas to his personal goals as an individual. The story of his relationship with his wife seems almost to be thrown in to keep the reader entertained between the lectures on business strategy.
- The book is well written. Despite it's faults, it does keep you reading. You want to find out what happens next. Whether this will last I can't guess.