The Jonah Program, named after the mentor character in the-goal, was eliyahu-goldratt's primary mechanism for training theory-of-constraints practitioners. Launched through the goldratt-institute in the late 1980s, the program trained managers to identify constraints and apply TOC logic in their own organizations. Participants — called "Jonahs" — learned the thinking-processes and were expected to become change agents within their companies. oded-cohen played a central role in developing and delivering the Jonah curriculum. The program was later supplemented by the goldratt-satellite-program, which brought TOC education to global study groups via video. The Jonah designation became an informal credential in the TOC community, preceding the formal certification later established by tocico. The program reflected Goldratt's Socratic approach (socratic-novel-pedagogy): Jonahs were trained not to prescribe solutions but to ask the right questions — mirroring how the fictional Jonah guides Alex Rogo in the-goal. clark-ching, eli-schragenheim, and many other prominent TOC practitioners came through the Jonah pipeline.