Goal

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:43:56 +1000

most optimisation asks for the best; goal programming asks for good enough, several times over. 𐃏 you attach a numeric target to each of several objectives, measure how far the plan misses each target, and minimise the misses you dislike. the philosophy is herbert simon’s satisficing¹ — real decision makers do not maximise a grand utility function, they set aspiration levels and stop when they are met — and the machinery is pure linear programming: goal programming was invented by charnes and cooper as an LP device² and remains the most-used technique in practical multi-criteria decision making precisely because it never leaves LP territory.

Deviation-Variables on Aayush Bajaj's Augmenting Infrastructure

Goal