Podcasts / Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Why Do Better Tools Make Me Worse at My Job? (w/ David Epstein) | Monday Advice

May 4, 2026 · 1h 23m

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EP · Deep Questions with Cal Newport · Why Do Better Tools Make Me Worse at My Job? (w/ David Epstein) | Monday Advice1:23:12

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asr · 16,197 words · docs

0:00In 1984, a former physicist turned business guru named Eliyahu Goldrot published a strange book.

0:08It was called The Goal, and it was what Goldrott described as a business novel.

0:15Now, this book follows the fate of a fictional plant manager named Alex Rogo, who meets an enigmatic physicist who, through a series of long Socratic dialogues, helps Rogo turn around the profitability of his plant.

0:29It also features a storyline about Rogo's marriage, as well as a sort of extended detour to a Boy Scout camping trip.

0:36I told you, this is a strange book.

0:38But here's the thing.

0:40The goal went on to sell more than 10 million copies.

0:44Why?

0:45Because contained within those novelistic plot lines is a critically important idea that Goldrot calls the theory of constraints.

0:55Now, I've come to believe that this theory helps explain a paradox that I talk about often on this show.

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