The second overarching question mentioned in the introduction to Toyota Kata is: How can other companies develop similar routines and thinking in their organizations? At this point we have a basic awareness of what Toyota is doing to achieve continuous […]
Cycles of coaching should ideally be frequent, short, and conducted face-to-face. In the case example, Tina and Dan’s communication was all verbal. However, it is often advisable to use a simple, one-page written document in support of mentor/mentee coaching. Verbal […]
Now that you have gone through the case example, we can get into a somewhat deeper discussion about the mentor/mentee dialogue and problem solving at Toyota. 1. How Did You Feel as You Read Through the Case? I have taken […]
The best way to explain Toyota’s mentor/mentee teaching approach is to show it in action. The following case example provides a close look at a Toyota-style mentor/mentee dialogue. Simultaneously, it also does a good job of demonstrating how Toyota thinks […]
Coaching Is Required Suppose we would like to teach a team of athletes some new skills and have them do well in competition. In this case, we would certainly not expect that simply explaining a different way of doing something, […]
A question that has been debated for many years is: “Who should carry out process improvements?” (Figure 7-1). Here are three common but problematic answers to that question. The process operators? One of the widely held opinions about continuous improvement […]
To understand Toyota’s improvement kata and coaching kata we need to consider two aspects of the context within which they operate: the business philosophy, or purpose, of the company; and its overall sense of direction. The Company’s Business Philosophy The […]
Improvement and adaptation are critical success factors and tend to take place at the process level. How, then, are we currently trying to improve our processes? Based on observations in many factories, I currently find these main approaches: workshops, value-stream […]
The applause dies down as the next conference speaker approaches the podium. The presentation is going to be about Toyota, and in his first slide the speaker presents some impressive statistics that demonstrate Toyota’s superior performance. The audience is nodding […]