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Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results

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There seems to be a growing consensus that our current management model, devised in conditions that prevailed 75 years ago, is in need of adjustment. However, the burning question that still has to be answered is, to what should it be adjusted? Until that happens it's going to be difficult for leaders to change how their organizations operate. We are still missing specifics that instruct managers and leaders in what they should actually do day-to-day in order to manage more effectively and successfully in today's market conditions.

Maybe this is beginning to shift. Toyota Kata explains in clear how-to detail a way of managing people that makes a company more adaptive, innovative and constantly improving. Although the research was done in manufacturing facilities and with an eye on Toyota, Toyota Kata is more about developing and utilizing human capabilities in organizations. In short, this book lays out a management approach for today's dynamic conditions.

This is not only one of the most noteworthy books on lean management, but an insightful and practical new guide for any manager or leader. Highly recommended.

The contents of this book should be be viewed as a major management breakthrough for "Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results". Sometimes the 'Toyota' portion in a title will lead readers to think that this is just about manufacturing. It does not - it applies to all business operations, including back office funcions like purchasing and supply management, and should be required reading for those wondering how to take their 'lean' operations to the next level.

At Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI), we critically evaluate the paradigm of sustainable operations with a focus on what Dr. H. Thomas Johnson summarizes as Management by Means (MBM) instead of Management by Ends. BGI focuses on entrepreneur-ism, innovation, social justice and sustainability. Mike Rother's book is an excellent primer for practioner's discussing how to best lead people in achieving superior operational results while following a natural system approach.

In this book, Mike Rother moves beyond the 14 management principles so carefully laid out by Jeffrey Liker and helps the reader understand how to make his/her organization more innovative and flexible, while continually improving. This is the next step in continuous improvement.

When combined with the building blocks contained in Jeffrey Liker's "The Toyota Way", and Stephen Spear's "Chasing the Rabbit", Mike Rother has created a new guide for practitioners leading continuous improvement and systems thinking in operations management. This book is highly recommended.

if you're involved in lean work in any capacity, whether in management, as a coach or as a participants to lean events, you must read this book now. It's a game changer. I wish I'd read this book ten years ago, it would have made so much, much easier. I've already ordered extra copies to give to friends and colleagues.

Rother has attacked directly a mystery about Toyota's success - the secret of what makes it a real-life example of learning organization, not just at senior level, but all the way to team leaders and team members. Indeed, he has succeeded in the tour de force of capturing the double-loop learning mechanism Toyota has developed. And he also succeeds in putting it across simply and practically with great examples. Beyond lean, this book offers deep insight into how business strategy can be derived from learning mechanism to avoid grand visions which also turn out to be grandly wrong. I suspect (or at least hope) that Rother's insights will open the door to another form of strategy formulation.

In many ways this book can either be seen as the result of twenty years of research on the mystery of Toyota and the TPS, or one the breakthrough stepping stones that will usher a new era of management thinking about how we look upon the human use of human beings at work. Thumbs up!

The Toyota Production System has two distinctive characteristics: Just in Time Production and the "Respect for Human."

Most Lean or TPS transformation efforts concentrate on the more visible aspects of "Just in Time" such as cellular machine placement, 5S or Kanban.

This is one of the reasons why most "Lean" implementations either never get off the ground or if initially successful return to the previous production system within 5 years.

Trying to implement TPS or Lean without the "Respect for Human" aspects is like trying to climb a mountain wearing roller skates. The rest of your "kit" may be spot on but this one item will undermine the entire effort.

Mike Rother has created a very useful book with Toyota Kata. It is a book for practitioners who actually want to create a sustainable lean organization. It presents a "No Stars in Your Eyes" perspective on how Toyota managers get "all" employees to engage their brains toward achieving goals everyday. Not only does he explain how Toyota does this but shares his own organizational experiences so you can do this in yours.

This is not just a manufacturing book-Toyota uses these methods throughout its company--from the boardroom to the shop floor. If you truly want to understand Toyota and its production system; this is one of the most revealing and useful books of the last 10 years

In my limited lean experience so far I am concerned about a tendency for operations to mindlessly adopt tools to satisfy improvmment on a lean audit score, which will ultimately have no impact on improving the business. When this is the case, senior management will likely dismiss the concept with claims like 'great for the automobile industry but we are different and lean doesn't work here'. The missing link is an understanding of the long term vision and the step-by-step process of getting there. Being lean in itself is not the destination, it simply provides the tools that help us overcome the obstacles on the way to the destination - 100% value added and right first time, highest quality, mimimum cost. Thank you to Mike Rother for distilling the elemental process and how it can be taught. The challenge now is creating kata behaviour in the absence of experienced coaches. Definitely recommended.

"Toyota Kata" could be the most important book on "lean" since "The Toyota Way". Based on six years research at Toyota, Mike Rother's book provides a very readable and straightforward approach to embedding continuous improvement - putting the "principles" of the Toyota Production System into action.

Interestingly, Mr Rother argues that the "Kaizen Event" approach to improvement is not effective or sustainable because, at best, each process area will only get one or two bursts of improvement in a year. This is not continuous improvement and does truly engage the workforce. He also argues that such events produce lists of improvements which are taken on by engineers and managers as "projects" to be completed. The project approach to improvement has little impact on changing the culture of the organisation.

Instead Mike Rother argues for constant daily improvement - thus "kata" - a simple PDCA routine which is enacted every day by everyone in the process, and supported and coached by managers and team leaders who have roughly 50% of their time allocated to teaching this approach to improvement. Small step-by-step improvements are more effective over time than occasional kaizen bursts, and have a significantly greater impact on the organisation culture -creating an environment of involvement and improvement.

The book describes this "improvement kata" routine with a rapid cycle of small improvements. It is one of the most interesting books I have read in years. The "lean tools" are touched on briefly - described as methods for highlighting obstacles in a controlled manner for improvement - but this book is about the behavioural routines that, by persistent and regular teaching at all levels in the organisation, become the embedded culture.

Everyone working in the field of lean, in any industry or organisation, should read this book. It will open your eyes to what is really necessary. If you only read one business book this year, then this should be it. This book has changed my thinking on lean - particularly on implementation. It is truly an excellent work.

The time it takes for a competitor to match the price is less than 24 hours. To build a product around a patent anywhere up to 2 years. But to build a new culture it takes up to 7 years. Clearly culture is the key to sustainable competitive advantage. Toyota Kata explains how to build an unbeatable culture in a company. The problem solving ability of the employees of the company is the key to success. The book explains very clearly how to develop this ability through routine behavior patterns, and also how to coach your employees in nurturing such ability. One insight will be that MBAs can never gain the insight required to do a job and can never beat a person in his job - a skill which she has acquired through years of hard work. May save you lots of money too.

This is a very practical discussion on how you can build an army of problem-solving, value-adding and life-enhancing organization. I highly recommend that every one who has a stake in running companies should read it.

Toyota Kata is an excellent book but its not for beginners or anyone who is simply curious about the "Toyota Way". There are many good books written about Toyota but they all leave you with the unanswered question, "so what should I exactly DO?". Toyota Kata answers this question and give pratical advice on how to teach and learn behaviors (kata) in your organization to handle the uncertain future.

Despite the fact that author has an easy to read writing style, some of his concept are so complicated that I would say its a difficult read. But at least for my business, a necessary one! We have started book studies about Toyota Kata that have provoked some interesting debates and pratical application.

I usually have quite a list of books to read. This is compounded by all those who would like me to review their book. I enjoy learning and reading so this isn't a bad situation it just means that it can take a while to get to some books. I finally got to Mike Rother's book Toyota Kata and wish I had gotten to it sooner.

A kata is a routine or behavior pattern that is deliberately practiced, whereby it becomes second nature. This is done to develop particular skills and mindset. The term kata is found mostly in the study of Asian martial arts.

Toyota Kata defines management as, "the systematic pursuit of desired conditions by utilizing human capabilities in a concerted way." Mike Rother contends that Toyota's improvement processes are build upon two fundamental kata:
A kata for improvement or problem solving.
A kata for coaching

The "Improvement Kata" is a set of behavior guidelines for which a lot of discipline is needed. It is not learned in a classroom but by doing, through repeated practice. Therefore, everyone in Toyota is coached by a more experienced person, a mentor or a sensei. Teaching how to improve is done via a mentor/mentee dialogue, which Rother calls the "Coaching Kata".

He states it is exactly the 'Improvement Kata' and 'Coaching Kata' that enable Toyota to adapt adequately. Rother described how Toyota makes improvement based on a specific four part model:
In consideration of a vision or direction...
Grasp the current condition.
Define the next target condition.
Move toward that target condition iteratively, which uncovers obstacles that need to be worked on.

Rother argues that the "Kaizen Event" approach to improvement is not effective or sustainable because, at best, each process area will only get one or two bursts of improvement in a year. This is not continuous improvement and does truly engage the workforce.

Instead he argues for constant daily improvement - a "kata" - or a simple PDCA routine which is enacted every day by everyone in the process, and supported and coached by managers and team leaders who have roughly 50% of their time allocated to teaching this approach to improvement. Small step-by-step improvements are more effective over time than occasional kaizen bursts, and have a significantly greater impact on the organization culture - creating an environment of involvement and improvement.

In this management approach a primary job of leaders and managers is to develop people so that desired results can be achieved. They do this by having the organization members (leaders and managers included) deliberately practice a routine, or kata, that develops and channels their creative abilities.

The book's underlying message is that when people practice and learn a kata for how to proceed through unclear territory, they don't need to fear the obstacles, changes and unknowns they encounter. Rather than trying to hold onto a sense of certainty based on one's perspective, people can derive confidence from a kata for working through uncertainty.

Toyota Kata focuses on change and improvement, and explains how they are not an aspect of management, but the essence of it. He debunks project management, action lists, budgets and a host of other traditional management fundamentals, and replaces them with an entire organization constantly engaged in small improvements

The book covers these five main interlocking topics:

The role of vision and direction in continuous improvement.
Critical context for the "classic lean tools" as target conditions.
The problem solving kata, and how it differs from what most of us do.
The coaching kata, really describing how management engages.
A proposal for teaching the problem solving and coaching kata to a management team.

Toyota Kata is an excellent and very well written book that really adds something new to the existing Lean literature. Anyone who has been on the Lean journey will immediately and easily relate to the material Toyota Kata contains. It explains how Toyota deals with the people part of Lean, and therefore I advise everyone who applies Lean in any setting to read it.

This is a book for practitioners who actually want to create a sustainable lean organization. I guarantee you will read this book several times, and each time you'll discover something new.

I was blown away by the content in this book. This book goes well beyond common management and becomes a how to do lean management, mostly on the factory floor. Some principles can be used throughout other departments but those wanting to understand productivity practices will gain the most from this book.