Introducing Toyota Kata

2023-06-19

Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker is a renowned expert on the Toyota Way and a retired Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is the president of Liker Lean Advisors, where he provides consulting, coaching, and training services based on Toyota's principles. Jeff is the author of multiple influential books, including the international best-seller "The Toyota Way," which has sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide. His books have received prestigious awards and have shaped organizations...

On the Ever-So-Lean Podcast today, we are privileged to have Jeff as our guest. He will provide valuable insights into Toyota and the Improvement Kata, explaining its role within Toyota's management principles and how it complements other components to foster effective organizational development. Additionally, Jeff will offer an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse into his latest co-authored novel alongside Tilo Schwartz "Giving Wings to Her Team," which explores the journey of a character refining her coaching skills in nurturing scientific thinking.

Join us for an engaging conversation with this influential figure, inspiring individuals and organizations worldwide to embrace the Toyota Way for continuous improvement and success.

Key Takeaways:

You can sign up online to visit Toyota Plants on dedicated tours which they offer. Available online.
Toyota train their people by doing. They assign them a coach and let them learn on the job. This supports creating sustainable culture.
The Toyota Way talks about the 4P model.
- Philosophy (long term scientific thinking. Thinking about it as a social and technical system with the people at the Centre),
- Process (one-piece flow, Lean),
- People (observe the process to see when it fails, a process is never perfect, we know it will fail, we expect it, but need to learn how. People see these and find solutions to the problems),
- Problem Solving (scientific thinking, understand what happened, what were the conditions that caused the problem, what was the root cause, try alternative solutions, pick the best solution based on data and evidence, that then becomes the new standard)
Managers have yearly targets on quality and productivity. They must think scientifically to solve real problems. A boss is there to develop and coach their people in problem solving. A boss is in a coaching position.
At all levels, allow teams to struggle what “waste time” to solve problems, as this builds a capability. Stand and watch. Observing a process to understand variation
Kata comes from martial arts. Learning movements repeatedly until mastered, repeatable and without thinking. This is Kata. Master one Kata at a time.
Toyota culture is built on people being taught problem solving. Practice, practice, practice.
Toyota Kata is scientific thinking. Targeting achieving levels of performance never seen before. Developing something new or to achieve an aspirational goal. The improvement Kata is the scientific model for improving towards a very difficult goal where there is uncertainty. This is broken down in 4 pieces (or Kata):
- Set direction (goal, target, what is the outcome you are looking for)
- Understand the current condition (process observation methods, understand cycles, deviations, variations and where are the opportunities)
- When you understand where you want to go. Don’t try and go to the end solution in one step. Set a small goal, something you can do quickly and cheaply, setting one-week target conditions e.g. short-term targets)
- Run experiments (try things and see what happens. Learn from what happens. Then try something else’s (trial and error will eventually get you to the target condition). It’s all about short term goals (motivating, practical and visualise what that means something to you).
Kata is all about people development, core skill is scientific thinking, describe your goal, understand current condition, what levers to pull to improve the process, not deploy solutions that are guesses, rather testing ideas one by one, proving the work or don’t work, learning from it and so on.
Biggest challenge by far with this approach is having a management culture that is invested in developing their people and learn to coach (manages look for opportunities to train and coach their teams in problems solving, hands on). It will take time, it’s a long-term payoff. This can cause resistance at a senior level. It’s not an online learning process. Thinking learning to play golf, you won’t hit the ball like tiger woods just by watching a video. It takes a hands-on approach, with enough repetition that it becomes like muscle memory (this is Kata).
The way to Engage people is to engage them. Create a focus for them to improve. Grows confidence and motivation.