Toyota Kata

"Toyota Kata gets to the essence of how Toyota manages continuous improvement and human ingenuity, through its improvement kata and coaching kata. Mike Rother explains why typical companies fail to understand the core of lean and make limited progress—and what it takes to make it a real part of your culture." —Jeffrey K. Liker, bestselling author of The Toyota Way "[Toyota Kata is] one of the stepping stones that will usher in a new era of management thinking." —The Systems Thinker "How any organization in any industry can progress from old-fashioned management by results to a strikingly different and better way." —James P. Womack, Chairman and Founder, Lean Enterprise Institute "Practicing the improvement kata is perhaps the best way we've found so far for actualizing PDCA in an organization." —John Shook, Chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute This game-changing book puts you behind the curtain at Toyota, providing new insight into the legendary automaker's management practices and offering practical guidance for leading and developing people in a way that makes the best use of their brainpower. Drawing on six years of research into Toyota's employee-management routines, Toyota Kata examines and elucidates, for the first time, the company's organizational routines--called kata--that power its success with continuous improvement and adaptation. The book also reaches beyond Toyota to explain issues of human behavior in organizations and provide specific answers to questions such as: How can we make improvement and adaptation part of everyday work throughout the organization? How can we develop and utilize the capability of everyone in the organization to repeatedly work toward and achieve new levels of performance? How can we give an organization the power to handle dynamic, unpredictable situations and keep satisfying customers? Mike Rother explains how to improve our prevailing management approach through the use of two kata: Improvement Kata--a repeating routine of establishing challenging target conditions, working step-by-step through obstacles, and always learning from the problems we encounter; and Coaching Kata: a pattern of teaching the improvement kata to employees at every level to ensure it motivates their ways of thinking and acting. With clear detail, an abundance of practical examples, and a cohesive explanation from start to finish, Toyota Kata gives executives and managers at any level actionable routines of thought and behavior that produce superior results and sustained competitive advantage.

Take advantage of your organization’s brainpower with Kata-driven continuous improvement “This is the first book I have read that provides a clear picture of what it takes to develop and mobilize creative capability across an organization, to achieve challenging goals.” Jeffrey K. Liker, author of The Toyota Way (from the Foreword) Nobody drives continuous improvement in real, tangible ways like Toyota, where everyone at every level works toward common, customer-related goals. At Toyota, continuous improvement is habitual. In his groundbreaking book Toyota Kata, Mike Rother revealed management practices that drive Toyota’s success in providing value to their customers. Now, Rother and coauthor Gerd Aulinger provide the routines and know-how for scaling these practices across your entire organization. It all builds on five simple foundational questions at every level: What is the target condition? What is the actual condition? What obstacles stand in the way of the target condition? What is the next step? What have you learned from taking that step? Illustrated cover to cover, Toyota Kata Culture helps you visualize exactly how these methods work—so you can start putting them into action right away. You’ll learn how to develop your own iterative process of trial and adjustment, build a deliberate, scientific-thinking culture that grows capability, and make aligned strategic continuous improvement part of everyday work. Achieve your goals and differentiate your organization by following the proven formula laid out in Toyota Kata Culture.

The biggest competitive advantage an organization can achieve comes from the synergies created by employees skilled in enhancing organizational dynamics. The Seven Kata: Toyota Kata, TWI, and Lean Training supplies time-tested tools and advice to help readers adapt to changing conditions and outcompete their rivals. It explains why a mix of the ski

Have you experienced initial success with your Agile change initiative but found that improvement seems to have plateaued? Did you set out to become Agile but failed to truly understand what it means across organizational levels beyond vague terms like "empowerment," "high-performance teams" and "trust"? Are improvement efforts based on projects or workshops but failing to become an integrated part of your daily work and culture? Are leaders not given the responsibility and framework to become active drivers of organizational improvement and are Scrum Masters acting more like facilitators than active improvement drivers? Are your improvement efforts grounded in reactive problem solving and good intentions but failing to deliver true and measurable results? All these questions indicate that there is a "missing link" between Agile and its Lean foundations: an underpinning of continuous improvement that so many Agilists want but rarely find they can execute. Toyota Kata provides this practical framework, the keystone of culture, that allows an organization to attain that elusive state of continuous improvement. This book is based on the last six years of experience working with Toyota Kata in an Agile setting, helping teams, departments, business units and organizations learn how to set ambitious and measurable improvement goals and work iteratively toward them. Applying Toyota Kata to the context of innovation and knowledge work requires us to rethink some of the original elements. To that end, the book is packed with examples and cases that allow you to move beyond abstract theoretical principles. You learn a lot from mistakes but not all mistakes must be repeated by everybody (and I have made many). "I find myself paying attention and learning again, and I encourage you to do so too."-Mike Rother, author of three books on Toyota Kata"My electronic copy of the book is full of marginal commentary and highlighted sections. I found so much here to absorb and apply."-Diana Larsen, Co-founder of the Agile Fluency Model and author"Inspiring, insightful and actionable alternative to the often failing agile transformations"-Tomas Eilsø, Enterprise SAFe coach"This book is by far the most comprehensive and thoughtful approach I have seen to applying Toyota Kata in Agile IT organizations. You will find yourself going back to this book over and over again to mine the treasure trove of experience and knowledge that Jesper has meticulously laid out. In my opinion this text will be regarded as a standard that both Agile practitioners and business leaders refer to in years to come."-Michael Blaha, Director of DevOps Provation Medical"Agile practitioners take note: By 'mastering' Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe you have taken the first step. Now, read this book to continue your journey!"-Adam Light, Lean & Agile Consultant and Speaker and Toyota Kata coach"This book brilliantly shows how to apply Toyota Kata in knowledge work. This is a must read for agile leaders"-Håkan Forss, Lean/Agile coach passionate about continuous learning and LEGO

FACING CHALLENGING GOALS AND UNPREDICTABLE PATHS? PRACTICE SCIENTIFIC THINKING! Your team’s ability to learn and adapt is paramount, and scientific thinking is the key to unlocking this invaluable skill. The bad news: It's not our natural default position as adults. The good news: There’s a simple and proven approach to developing it in any organization or team—including yours—called Toyota Kata. Professor Sylvain Landry lays out a straightforward management practice that enables each level of your organization to apply scientific ways of thinking and working, to achieve whatever goals you’re pursuing. “This book is that good!!! I can’t wait to have leaders read it! Sylvain shares his journey with Kata in a way that transported me into it. He brings a clear understanding and a powerful message on how to go about it, in a short and easy-to-read format. I consider this essential reading for anyone looking to start scientific-thinking practice in their organization.” – Tony Hren, Senior Director,Danaher Business System, Danaher Corporation “A practical and easily digestible book on Toyota Kata that’s perfect for our managers and their teams.” – Kasper Bødker Mejlvang, General Manager,Novo Nordisk Denmark & Iceland “If I'd had this book before I got into Kata it would have increased my understanding of how to get started. A great precursor to initial training and practice.” – Andrea Simpson, Senior Operations Director and Process Improvement, NEA Baptist Health System “As a leader of an organization, the challenge of improving is hard to sustain. This MUST-read book highlights how top organizations fuel their journey, and even enjoy the trip, by managers shepherding practice of scientific thinking in their teams.” – Dan Bergeron, President & CEO of SigmaPoint Technologies “A compact book every manager who wants to coach high performance should read. Take it along on your next flight.” – Professor Jeffrey Liker, author of the bestseller The Toyota Way “We develop many thinking habits at work, which makes the workplace the world’s largest classroom and managers its teachers. What skills and mindset are you conveying in your team? Read this book and realize how important your work with your team is.” – Mike Rother, author of the bestselling Learning to See,Toyota Kata and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide

Lean production is the gold standard in production systems, but has proven famously difficult to implement in North America. Mass production relies on large inventories, uses "push" processes and struggles with long lead times. Moving towards a system that eliminates muda ("waste") caused by overproduction, while challenging, proves necessary for improved efficiency. Often overlooked, value stream mapping is the essential planning stage for any Lean transformation. In Mike Rother and John Shook's essential guide, you follow the value stream mapping undertaken for Acme Stamping, for its current and future state. Fully illustrated and well-organized, Learning to See is a must-see for the value stream manager.

Create more scientific thinking in your company—two popular guides in one convenient package The Toyota Kata Field Guide Power Pack includes Mike Rother’s groundbreaking companion volumes to his internationally renowned Toyota Kata—the book that launched a global business movement toward a scientific thinking management process that drives continuous improvement. The package includes: The Toyota Kata Practice Guide—a hands-on guide giving both the coach and the learner all the “starter Kata” for everyday practice, and Toyota Kata Culture—an illustrated look at how to deploy a Kata coaching chain that creates organizational capability to continually adapt, improve, and innovate.

Take the Kata path to scientific thinking and superior results! In this long-awaited companion to the groundbreaking book Toyota Kata, Mike Rother takes you to the next level of developing business mindset and capability for the 21st Century. Much more than a list of management concepts, The Toyota Kata Practice Guide walks you through the process of making improvement, adaptation, and even innovation routine behavior. Designed to help a coach (the manager) and a learner work together for developing new skillsets, The Toyota Kata Practice Guide delivers the information, insight, and frameworks you need to: * Form habits that help you solve problems and achieve challenging goals * Modify the thought patterns that drive your behavior * Develop an organizational mindset that drives superior results The Improvement Kata gives learners the means to experiment their way through obstacles and achieve tough goals; the Coaching Kata gives managers the means to accelerate and cement their people's learning. In the new age of business, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs is no longer the end game. A manager’s job today is to develop patterns of thinking and acting in their people that lead to success with any challenge. Consistent, mindful practice is the best way to do it—and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide is the best way to get there.

"John Dewey famously pointed out, 'We don't learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.' Here's your chance to learn as the three authors reflect on the (successful) struggle to build a Lean production and management system at Zingerman's Mail Order. Thousands of people visit and benchmark ZMO. This book delivers the backstory in a richly illustrated way." -- Mike Rother, author of the bestselling books Toyota Kata and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide This clever and highly engaging graphic novel details a story about one organization’s Lean journey with inspiration from the Toyota Way. Over the years, common misunderstandings about what Lean is, what the journey is like, and how to advance have proliferated. Often, these misunderstandings come from the way people simplistically talk and think about Lean as if it is some concrete thing that you insert into an organization and step back to watch the results. The authors, however, view the organization as a living system with interacting parts and constant exposure to the environment. It is dynamic, so it’s hard to predict what obstacles you will face next. Just when you think you have it solved, new challenges arise from the market, competitors, government regulations, and every direction you turn to. When you look at your organization in this way, you see Lean through a different lens. The goal is to make your processes and people into a more adaptive system so you can navigate through all the complexity and uncertainty to continually achieve your goals. This is how Toyota views things and they summarize the Toyota Way as continuous improvement and respect for people. Each person becomes a partner in struggling to learn and adapt, and specific tools are used in very different ways throughout the company to accomplish their goals. The story presented here focuses on a small company called Zingerman’s Mail Order (ZMO). Tom Root was one of the founders of this spin-off of the Zingerman’s delicatessen. The deli was founded to bring high-quality artisanal food to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The purpose of this book is not to provide a "recipe for implementation" – the authors want you to get a feeling for the struggle, for the learning process. They explain and demonstrate many Lean tools within the context of the journey and how they were adapted for this particular business. Toyota kata became the centerpiece of developing scientific thinking skills to begin to bring continuous improvement to life.

This workbook explains in simple, step-by-step terms how to introduce and sustain lean flows of material and information in pacemaker cells and lines, a prerequisite for achieving a lean value stream.A sight we frequently encounter when touring plants is the relocation of processing steps from departments (process villages) to product-family work cells, but too often these "cells" produce only intermittent and erratic flow. Output gyrates from hour to hour and small piles of inventory accumulate between each operation so that few of the benefits of cellularization are actually being realized; and, if the cell is located upstream from the pacemaker process, none of the benefits may ever reach the customer.This sequel to Learning to See (which focused on plant level operations) provides simple step-by-step instructions for eliminating waste and creating continuous flow at the process level. This isn't a workbook you will read once then relegate to the bookshelf. It's an action guide for managers, engineers, and production associates that you will use to improve flow each and every day.Creating Continuous Flow takes you to the next level in work cell design where you'll achieve even greater cost and lead time savings. You'll learn: where to focus your continuous flow efforts, how to create much more efficient work cells and lines, how to operate a pacemaker process so that a lean value stream is possible, how to sustain the gains, and keep improving.Creating Continuous Flow is the next logical step after Learning to See. The value-stream mapping process defined the pacemaker process and the overall flow of products and information in the plant. The next step is to shift your focus from the plant to the process level by zeroing in on the pacemaker process, which sets the production rhythm for the plant or value stream, and apply the principles of continuous flow.Every production facility has at least one pacemaker process. The pacemaker processes is usually where products take their final form before going to external customers. It’s called the pacemaker because how you operate here determines both how well you can serve the customer and what the demand pattern is like for your upstream supplying processes.How the pacemaker process operates is critically important. A steady and consistently flowing pacemaker places steady and consistent demands on the rest of the value stream. The continuous flow processing that results allows companies to create leaner value streams.[Source : 4e de couv.]

"The process by which a company identifies, frames, acts and reviews progress on problems, projects and proposals can be found in the structure of the A3 process ... follow the story of a manager ... and his report ... which will reveal how the A3 can be used as a management process to create a standard method for innovating, planning, problem-solving, and building structures for a broader and deeper form of thinking - a practical and repeatable approach to organizational learning"--Publisher's description.

Leaders in the digital era are faced with breaking into new markets, disrupting existing ones, and doing so with more precision than ever before just to keep up with their competitors. To innovate more quickly, to rapidly experiment with ideas and technology, to pivot seemingly overnight, you need to have a system in place that can help you execute your most ambitious strategy. While OKRs (Objective and Key Results) have made huge waves recently, practical implementation of OKRs remains elusive for many. Lean OKRs are the evolved version of the OKR strategy execution tool that has powered the transformational journeys of giants like Google and Facebook. It is the lightweight method that turns good ideas into great execution, heightens employee engagement, aligns teams, and achieves measurable, breakthrough results. Lean OKRs presents insightful anecdotes, creative exercises, clear figures and step-by-step models. Designed as a comprehensive guide, it covers everything from theoretical roots to practical execution, including company-wide strategy alignment and emotional management. Applicable to small companies as well as large organisations, Lean OKRs drives innovation through behavioral changes, empowering and motivating teams through focused daily OKR practices that are simple to put into action. Practical and to the point, this book integrates a unique combination of structural and leadership strategies, resulting in a new approach to OKRs that conquers the hurdles experienced by most business leaders today.

A leading expert on Toyota provides the very first look at the company's people-management routines Based on six years of research, Toyota Kata brings to light, for the first time, the auto company s secrets to managing employees. It reveals the two main routines of thinking and acting (called kata) that Toyota instills in its people, which in turn generate continuous improvement, adaptation, and remarkable results.Inside, Mike Rother provides the insights readers need to model their management system after that of Toyota. Anyone seeking better ways to lead, manage, and develop people will find all they need in Toyota Kata.

The bestselling guide to Toyota’s legendary philosophy and production system—updated with important new frameworks for driving innovation and quality in your business One of the most impactful business guides published in the 21st Century, The Toyota Way played an outsized role in launching the continuous-improvement movement that continues unabated today. Multiple Shingo Award-winning management and operations expert Jeffrey K. Liker provides a deep dive into Toyota’s world-changing processes, showing how you can learn from it to develop your own improvement program that fits your conditions. Thanks in large part to this book, managers across the globe are creating workforces and systems that produce the highest-quality products and services, establish and retain customer loyalty, and drive business profitability and sustainability. Now, Liker has thoroughly updated his classic guide to include: Completely revised data and updated information about Toyota’s approach to competitiveness in the new world of mobility and smart technology Illustrative examples from manufacturing and service organizations that have learned and improved from the Toyota Way A fresh approach to leadership models The brain science and skills for learning to think scientifically How Toyota applies Hoshin Kanri, a planning process that aligns objectives at all levels and marries them to business strategy Organized into thematic sections covering the various aspects of the Toyota Way—including Philosophy, Processes, People, and Problem Solving—this unparalleled guide details the 14 key principles for building the foundation of a powerful improvement system and managing it for ultimate competitive advantage. With The Toyota Way, you have an inspiration and a model of how to set a direction, continuously improve and learn at all levels, continually "flow" value to satisfy customers, improve your leadership, and get quality right the first time.

The culture of organizations and society is embedded in the behavior of both groups and individuals. To change the culture of an organization you cannot simply focus on individual leaders or employees. You must address the norms of behavior, the habits of group decision-making and problem-solving at all levels of the organization. High performing natural work teams and management teams are the key to high performing organizations. Building these teams is the purpose of Team Kata. The purpose of Team Kata is to develop the patterns of continuous improvement, high performance, and high satisfaction within every team and every employee. These are the skills of team leadership.This book represents the combination of two sets of learning: first, the experience of lean management; and second, many years of experience training and coaching high performing management and natural work teams. Many efforts to implement lean management have been disappointing. By far the most common cause is a failure to create a culture of teamwork and continuous improvement. This book presents the basic skills and habits that are essential to creating that change in culture. It should be read by every team leader, team member and team coach.

The definitive inside account of Toyota's greatest crisis—and lessons you can apply to your own company "Those who write off Toyota in the current climate of second guessing and speculation are making a profound mistake and need to read this book to get the facts. Toyota is a company that will channel the current challenges to push themselves to even more relentless continuous improvement." —Charles Baker, former Chief Engineer and Vice President for R&D, Honda of America "Toyota Under Fire is a superb book and should prove very helpful to American industry's understanding of the problems faced and how any company can prevent similar occurrences in the future." —Norman Bodek, author, founder of Productivity Press, and inductee in 2010 Industry Week Manufacturing Hall of Fame "As a former automotive supplier executive and student of Toyota, I was concerned to see the many negative reports and investigations into the quality and safety of its vehicles. Toyota Under Fire tells the story of how this great company is growing wiser and stronger by living its culture and values." —Michael Fisher, CEO, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center "Just as Toyota has put itself through excruciating soul-searching in order to understand what went wrong, so should we all take advantage of the opportunity for learning presented to us by Toyota's misfortune. In these pages, you will find that the actual circumstances were far more complex, nuanced, and uncertain than you saw reported in the news." —John Y. Shook, Chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute "The most comprehensive and detailed review to date of the circumstances that led to the crisis, and the events and contexts that caused it to escalate.” —Strategy & Business About the Book For decades, Toyota has been setting standards that are the envy—and goal—of organizations worldwide. Its legendary management principles and business philosophy, first documented by Jeffrey K. Liker in his influential book The Toyota Way, changed the business world's approach to operational excellence. Granted unprecedented access to Toyota's facilities worldwide, Liker, along with Timothy N. Ogden, investigated the inside story of how Toyota faced the challenges of the recession and the recall crisis of 2009–2010. In both cases, the company was caught off guard—and found that a root cause of the challenges it faced was its failure to live up to its own principles. But the fundamentals were still there, and the company has ultimately come out of the most challenging years of its postwar existence even stronger than before. Toyota Under Fire chronicles all the events of the recession and the recall crisis in detail, providing valuable lessons any business leader can use to survive and thrive in a crisis, no matter how large: Crisis response must start by building a strong culture long before the crisis hits. Culture matters far more than decisions made by top executives. Investing in people, even in the depths of a recession, is the surest path to long-term profitability. Because it had founded its culture on such principles, Toyota didn’t need to amass an army of public relations, marketing, and legal experts to "put out the fire"; instead, it redoubled efforts to live up to its founding tenet, going "back to basics." Toyota began solving this crisis more than 70 years ago, when its organizational culture was first established. Apply the lessons of Toyota Under Fire to your company, and you'll meet any future management challenge calmly, responsibly, and effectively—the Toyota Way.

"Marnie MacGraw wants an ordinary life- a husband, kids, and a minivan in the suburbs. Now that she's marrying the man of her dreams, she's sure this is the life she'll get. Then Marnie meets Blix Holliday, her fiancé's irascible matchmaking great-aunt who's dying, and everything changes- just as Blix told her it would. When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. Marnie doesn't believe she's anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps. And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most."--book jacket

Take the Kata path to scientific thinking and superior results! In this long-awaited companion to the groundbreaking book Toyota Kata, Mike Rother takes you to the next level of developing business mindset and capability for the 21st Century. Much more than a list of management concepts, The Toyota Kata Practice Guide walks you through the process of making improvement, adaptation, and even innovation routine behavior. Designed to help a coach (the manager) and a learner work together for developing new skillsets, The Toyota Kata Practice Guide delivers the information, insight, and frameworks you need to: * Form habits that help you solve problems and achieve challenging goals * Modify the thought patterns that drive your behavior * Develop an organizational mindset that drives superior results The Improvement Kata gives learners the means to experiment their way through obstacles and achieve tough goals; the Coaching Kata gives managers the means to accelerate and cement their people's learning. In the new age of business, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs is no longer the end game. A manager’s job today is to develop patterns of thinking and acting in their people that lead to success with any challenge. Consistent, mindful practice is the best way to do it—and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide is the best way to get there.

In Developing Lean Leaders at all Levels we build on the theory in the original book, The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership, and answer the questions: How can I apply this in my organization? What concrete actions can I take to begin the journey of becoming a lean leader? How can I spread this learning to all parts of the organization? What critical tools are needed to turn the theory to practice? This book adds examples from over twenty years of experience by Dr. Liker in working with companies outside of Toyota. The book treats you as a student who will be actively engaged in developing lean leader skills as you read. It acts as a tutorial for beginning the journey.

Building upon the international bestselling Toyota Way series of books by Jeffrey Liker, The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement looks critically at lean deployments and identifies the root causes of why most of them fail. The book is organized into three major sections outlining: Why it is critical to go beyond implementing lean tools and, instead, build a culture of continuous improvement that connects operational excellence to business strategy Case studies from seven unique industries written from the perspective of the sensei (teacher) who led the lean transformation Lessons about transforming your own vision of an ideal organization into reality Section One: Using the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) methodology, Liker and Franz contrast true PDCA thinking to that of the popular, superficial approach of copying "lean solutions." They describe the importance of developing people and show how the Toyota Way principles support and drive continuous improvement. Explaining how lean systems and processes start with a purpose that provides a true north direction for all activities, they wrap up this section by examining the glaring differences between building a system of people, processes, and problem- solving that is truly lean versus that of simply trying to "lean out" a process. Section Two: This section brings together seven case studies as told by the sensei who led the transformation efforts. The companies range from traditional manufacturers, overhaul and maintenance of submarines, nuclear fuel rod production, health care providers, pathology labs, and product development. Each of these industries is different but the approaches used were remarkably similar. Section Three: Beginning with a composite story describing a company in its early days of lean implementation, this section describes what went right and wrong during the initial implementation efforts. The authors bring to light some of the difficulties the sensei faces, such as bureaucracies, closed-minded mechanical thinking, and the challenges of developing lean coaches who can facilitate real change. They address the question: Which is better, slow and deep organic deployment or fast and broad mechanistic deployment? The answer may surprise you. The book ends with a discussion on how to make continuous improvement a way of life at your company and the role of leadership in any lean transformation. The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement is required reading for anyone seeking to transcend his or her tools-based approach and truly embrace a culture of continuous improvement.