VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [160]
In addition, this book ultimately reflects all of the hard work and motivation of the people of the AGI-Goldratt Institute to make complex systems manageable and to enable our clients to achieve self-sustaining success. Everyone at AGI feels tremendous gratitude toward the many clients and their organizations that have enabled us to continue the work we find so satisfying. Among these clients we are proud to have served are the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force, along with a vast array of business corporations that include Nike, Corning, Procter & Gamble, Sealed Air, ITT, Northrup Grumman, Lucent, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Gunze, and Sumino.
Key people within AGI who were vital to developing the concept of VELOCITY and its various applications and tools are Dale Houle and Hugh Cole, fellow partners of Dee Jacob and Suzan Bergland. Dale has been essential to the vision, verbalization, and development of TOC since the founding of AGI. Hugh has been associated with AGI as a client first, then a consultant, and now as a partner for many years; he ensures that we make whatever we conceive understandable to all within the organization. Finally, our many consultants, our executives and partners, and our staff ensure that the story of VELOCITY occurs daily through those clients we engage with, mentor, and train.
A concept or an approach that works is not so easy to turn into a readable and engaging story. Jeff Cox is our special friend and collaborator on VELOCITY, the book. His books demonstrate not only the gift he has for conveying concepts to others, but the flair he has for making learning about business concepts easy through a story hard to put down until you’ve read the very last page. Working with Jeff has helped us to see further the elegance of what we do and how we touch lives every day. We thank you, Jeff, and look forward to our next collaboration.
Finally, we would like to thank those who made the publication of this book a reality. Most of all, we thank our agent, Cathy Hemming, whose experience and knowledge guided us to certainly one of the world’s finest publishers: Free Press of Simon & Schuster. There, we were happy and fortunate to work with Emily Loose, an editor blessed with both vision and sensitivity, and her greatly talented editorial staff. We, the authors, thank all of you and offer our best wishes for enduring success.
About the Authors
Dee Jacob is managing partner of the AGI-Goldratt Institute. She has been a key innovator in the development of the VELOCITY approach, as well as in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) methodology and the TOC Project Management Solution. Since 1991, when she joined AGI, Dee has led many successful implementations of TOC for both private sector and government clients. She is a founder and lifetime member of the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization and holds all six TOCICO certifications. A graduate of Lafayette College, Dee now lives in Guilford, Connecticut.
Suzan Bergland is an AGI-Goldratt Institute partner and is president of its North American Group. She has extensive, direct experience in applying the VELOCITY approach for integrating TOC and LSS with a wide range of clients. A founder and lifetime member of the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization, she also holds all six TOCICO certifications, as well as three certifications from the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Suzan has a master’s degree in quality management from Loyola University. She currently lives in Naples, Florida.
Jeff Cox is an independent creative writer who specializes in writing novels based on business concepts. He is the co-author or author of seven previous works of business fiction: The Goal, Zapp!, The Quadrant Solution, Heroz, The Venture, Selling the Wheel, and The Cure. These