The Challenge of
CREATING
LEAN
MANAGERS
By Mike Rother
August 2014
This presentation was created with assistance
from Joakim Hillberg and Pia Anhede
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
TO THE MLC MEMBERS
Thank you for the opportunity to share with you some things
we’re learning, at the August 2014 Michigan Lean Consortium
conference in Traverse City.
Please feel free to use any of the slides from
this presentation, which are copyrighted under
a Creative Commons Attribution license. The
only requirement is to note the source on each
slide you use, for instance by adding “By Mike
Rother” somewhere on the slide.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
2
WHAT I’M FOCUSING ON TODAY
Visible
Less
Visible
Lean tools and techniques
to improve quality, cost
and delivery
• A systematic, scientific way
of thinking and acting
• Managers as the teachers
of that way
This less visible part is a context
for making the Lean tools and practices work
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
3
Toyota
Kata
Website
THE TOYOTA KATA RESEARCH
2004 - 2009
Guided by these two research questions:
1. What are the unseen managerial routines and
thinking that lie behind Toyota’s success with
continuous improvement and adaptation?
2. How can other companies develop similar
routines and thinking in their organizations?
Question 1:
If you study Toyota’s management system enough,
a common pattern of thinking and acting emerges,
which is evident at all levels inside the company.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
4
THE IMPROVEMENT KATA MODEL
1
2
3
4
Understand
the Direction
or Challenge
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target
Condition
Iterate
Toward the
Target Condition
TC
CC
Planning
Executing
The pattern that came out of our investigations is similar to
other models of the iterative, creative, scientific process.
Such as:
Systems thinking, critical thinking, learning organization, design
thinking, creative thinking, solution-focused practice, preferred
futuring, skills of inquiry, evidence-based learning, etc.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
5
THINKING AND WORKING SCIENTIFICALLY
Finding commonality between Toyota's
management approach and models of
human creative endeavor makes perfect
sense.
What Toyota managers do in their daily work is teach a
universal means of improving, adapting and innovating.
Toyota's management approach involves teaching
people a scientific mindset that can be applied to an
infinite number of objectives, creating a deliberate,
shared way of working throughout the organization.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
6
THE IK PATTERN IS USED AT ALL LEVELS
The content of what is being worked on differs from area to area
and level to level, but the thinking pattern is the same
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Grasp the Establish the
Current Next Target
Condition Condition
Iterate
Toward the
Target
Condition
Organization
Level
Value Stream
Level
Value Stream
Loop Level
Process
Level
PLANNING
© Mike Rother
EXECUTING
Toyota Kata
7
PART I
* Scientific Thinking *
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
8
LET’S LOOK AT
A WORK PROCESS
• In groups of 4
• Watch the video of the assembly
process. Each person watch one of
the 4 operators.
• Video will roll 5 minutes
• Record: What would you improve?
This could be any work process
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
9
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
•
•
•
•
Count off 1 to 4 at your table.
Watch the video of the assembly process.
Each person watch one of the 4 operators.
Video will roll ~4 minutes.
Record: What would you improve?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
10
THE FAUCET ASSEMBLY PROCESS
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
11
ASK 5 PEOPLE WHAT TO IMPROVE,
GET 6 DIFFERENT ANSWERS
= Observed Wastes,
Problems, Opportunities
This seems
interesting
This seems
important!
There's always too
much to do, and by
random choices
we get nowhere
Illustration by Teemu Toivonen
© Mike Rother
We have limited time and
resources for improvement!
Toyota Kata
12
IMPROVEMENT BASED ON
“ELIMINATE WASTE” IS FLAWED
The elimination of waste is an outcome
of pursuing a particular goal
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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FIRST YOU NEED A TARGET CONDITION
What do you
want to achieve?
Things
we HAVE
to do
Things
we
CAN do
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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THAT TAKES SOME ANALYSIS & PLANNING
✓
© Mike Rother
✓
✓
Toyota Kata
15
SO NOW WE CAN GET GOING, RIGHT?
We know the overall direction or challenge,
where we are now and our next target condition...
so it’s time to make an action plan!
Well, not quite...
© Mike Rother
Typical Action Plan
Toyota Kata
16
THE DICE EXPERIMENT
• I’ll roll a die three (3) times and sum the numbers.
• The sum will be a number between 3 and 18.
Before I roll, please write down:
What will be the sum of the 3 rolls?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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Those of you who wrote down the
incorrect sum...
How do you feel?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
18
Not so bad,
it’s just chance
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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QUESTION #2
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ?
What will be the next number in this series?
Please write down your answer
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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ANSWER
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 2
Those of you who wrote down
the incorrect sum...
How do you feel this time?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
21
Hey!
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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What was different
about these two scenarios?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
23
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SCENARIOS
How easy or hard it is to spot the current knowledge threshold
• In Round 1 with the dice, it was easy to see
the we didn’t know what the outcome would be.
• In Round 2 the knowledge threshold was more
difficult to see. We thought we knew the answer,
so we went over the threshold & answered.
Yet in both rounds the knowledge threshold was the
same: There were no facts beyond the initial setup.
Predictable Zone
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Current
Knowledge
Threshold
 What would be a good answer in both rounds?
 Why don’t we say that?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
24
THERE IS ALWAYS A KNOWLEDGE THRESHOLD
If we ignore it and set a course -- rather than testing and
learning our way forward -- that’s where trouble begins.
Action-Item Lists
Voting on Options
Deciding in
advance how
we will get
there
Voting adds no facts or data
“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”
Attributed to Mark Twain, Will Rodgers, Satchel Paige,
Artemus Ward, Josh Billings & others
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
25
THE THRESHOLD OF KNOWLEDGE
IS THE ‘LEARNING EDGE’
It’s where your next experiment should take place
The path is unpredictable
Key points at knowledge thresholds:
1) You have to acknowledge it to see it.
2) We see further by experimenting.
3) We don’t know what the result of a step/experiment will be.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
26
IT’S THE SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CYCLE
The scientific process of acquiring knowledge
This cycle gives you a practical way to reach a target
condition, by providing a systematic way of working
through the grey zone between here and there.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
27
SMALL, RAPID EXPERIMENTS
ADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE QUICKLY
The Grey Zone
Current
Condition
© Mike Rother
Next
Target
Condition
(date)
Toyota Kata
28
VIDEO - Working Iteratively
(3 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COKqiFaHm1s
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
29
GREAT, LET’S GO!
The Scientific IK Pattern...
...suits complex, dynamic
conditions!
...makes empowerment
possible!
But wait, there’s a problem…
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
30
PART II
Deliberate Practice
for *Developing*
Scientific Thinking
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
31
LET’S LOOK AT THE SECOND
TK RESEARCH QUESTION
Toyota Kata research questions:
1. What are the unseen managerial routines and
thinking that lie behind Toyota’s success with
continuous improvement and adaptation?
2. How can other companies develop similar
routines and thinking in their organizations?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
32
Scientific
Thinking
Born?
© Mike Rother
Learned
?
Toyota Kata
33
Scientific
Thinking
Born?
We are notoriously bad
at scientific thinking, due
to natural, unconscious
mental mechanisms
© Mike Rother
Learned
?
Toyota Kata
34
Read what you see
IUMRING TQ
GQNGIUSIQNS
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
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IUMRING TQ
GQNGIUSIQNS
Our brain automatically fills in
blanks, instead of saying to us
“Sorry, I don’t know yet”
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
36
SO WHAT WILL IT TAKE
FOR CHANGE TO HAPPEN?
•
•
•
•
© Mike Rother
Get a piece of paper and a pen
Start when I say “go”
Sign your name 5 times normally
When you are finished raise your hand
Toyota Kata
37
LET’S TRY JUST
A SMALL CHANGE
•
•
•
•
© Mike Rother
Change hands, to non-dominant
Start when I say “go”
Sign your name 5 times again
Raise your hand when you are finished
Toyota Kata
38
HOW DID IT FEEL THE SECOND TIME
COMPARED TO THE FIRST?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
39
WE HAVE A LEAN DILEMMA
How did it feel
the second time?
• “Different”
• “Difficult”
• “Weird”
• “Uncomfortable”
• Why? Because we have well-established
neural pathways for signing with our
dominant hand. It’s automatic, fast and
comfortable.
• We default to already-established
thought and behavior patterns because
they conserve mental resources.
1. We want to change to working scientifically,
according to something like the Improvement
Kata pattern.
-- however -2. We naturally tend to stick with our current
ways of doing things because they use existing
neural circuits that require less energy.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
40
INFORMATION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH
TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR AND THINKING
Theories, information and steps may all be correct, but
just knowing them is not likely to change behavior.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
41
Scientific
Thinking
Born
It’s Learned
OK... HOW?
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
42
VIDEO - A Way the Brain Learns
(2 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpfYCZa87g
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
43
4 INGREDIENTS FOR ACQUIRING NEW SKILLS
Brain research is clear: To develop new habits you should
practice new routines and experience a progressive sense
of mastering them. The following ingredients help us
rewire our brain to acquire new skills and mindset.
k
j
PRACTICE
Daily
KATA
Structured practice
routines (beginner)
COACHING
Corrective
feedback
MASTERY
Overcoming
obstacles
l
m
Let’s take a quick look at each ingredient
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
44
WHAT ARE KATA?
1
Kata are structured routines you practice
deliberately, especially at the beginning, so their pattern
becomes a habit and leaves you with new abilities
KATA:
• Are typically for learning
fundamentals, to build on.
• Are a way of transferring skills and
developing shared abilities and
mindset in a team or organization.
© Mike Rother
“Let’s begin by
practicing it
this way for a
while.”
Toyota Kata
45
1
KATA ARE LIKE
ROCKET ENGINES
They help you get started
KATA
Beginners should follow Kata exactly;
not deviating from them so the
Learner can internalize the patterns.
But with increasing proficiency each
Learner can start to (within limits)
develop their own style.
Likewise, over time each organization
can evolve the Kata it began with to
better suit and mesh with its culture.
The original Kata evolve into
organization-specific practice routines.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
46
THERE ARE PRACTICE ROUTINES FOR
EACH STEP OF THE IMPROVEMENT KATA
See the online Improvement Kata Handbook*
The scientific
pattern of the
Improvement
Kata model is
universal
Structured
practice routines
are a way to
begin to
operationalize
the IK pattern
* http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/Materials_to_Download.html
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
47
2
DAILY PRACTICE
If we only periodically conduct training events or only
episodically work on improvement -- and the rest of the
time itʼs business as usual -- then according to neuroscience
what weʼre actually teaching is business as usual.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
48
3
COACHING
Careful... Practice makes permanent
Left alone, a Learner may unknowingly practice existing habits.
The Coach (manager) provides corrective inputs to ensure that
the Learner practices the new routine the right way.
The manager focuses not on the content
of what their people are working on, but
on their pattern of thinking & acting as
they strive for real goals.
The manager’s task is not to develop
solutions, but to develop the abilities of
their Learners.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
49
3
THE COACHING KATA
The Coaching Kata is a set of practice routines for
managers to use in teaching the Improvement
Kata pattern... through daily Coaching Cycles
Learner
Understand
the
Direction
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish
the Next
Target
Condition
‘Planning’ Coaching Cycles
Iterate
Toward the
Target
Condition
Improvement
Kata
‘Executing’
Coaching
Cycles
Coaching
Kata
Coach
(Manager)
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
50
MASTERY
4
The role of the Learner’s emotions
For new skills and mindset to be learned, the Learner
should practice in the Learning Zone beyond their current
capability and get a sense they are making progress.
This is a responsibility of the Coach.
Apparent
Certainty
© Mike Rother
Learner’s current
threshold of
knowledge & skill
Toyota Kata
51
VIDEO - A Coaching Cycle
(5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySdYX4cNPsQ
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
52
PART III
The Challenge
of Creating
Lean Managers
The goal of this presentation is to make us
more aware of the task & challenge we face.
It’s not about scheduling Lean classes, going
on benchmarking trips or anything like that.
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
53
A SHIFT TO “21ST CENTURY LEAN”
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
54
MANAGERS ARE TEACHERS (by default)
With their everyday words and actions, managers teach their
people a mindset and approach, which has a significant effect
on creating an organization’s capability and culture.
Teaching a way of thinking and acting
– a deliberate culture – should get
integrated into the organization’s
COACH
normal chain of management.
COACH
to D
COACH
to C
to B
COACH
to A
Vice
President
Value-Stream
Manager
Department
Manager
Process
Supervisor
Process
Operator
LEARNER
to E
LEARNER
to D
LEARNER
to C
LEARNER
to B
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
55
HOW IT WORKS WHEN IT’S IN PLACE
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target
Condition
Iterate
Toward the
Target
Condition
Organization
Level
Value Stream
Level
Value Stream
Loop Level
Process
Level
PLANNING
© Mike Rother
EXECUTING
Toyota Kata
56
HOW IT WORKS WHEN IT’S IN PLACE
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target
Condition
LongerCycle
Experiments
Organization
Level
Value Stream
Level
Iterate
Toward the
Target
Condition
Current State
Value Stream
Mapping
Future State
Value Stream
Mapping
Value Stream
Loop Level
ShortCycle
Experiments
Process
Level
PLANNING
© Mike Rother
EXECUTING
Toyota Kata
57
BUT GETTING THERE IS THE CHALLENGE
Catch-22: Managers have to be Learners first
Able to TEACH it
“Management”
Able to DO it
AWARE of it
© Mike Rother
Here you understand the
thinking behind the Kata
and can teach others
Skill development
begins here
Learning begins when
you start applying the
Improvement Kata yourself
Concepts alone generally
don’t change anything
Toyota Kata
58
THERE IS
ONE GOOD ANSWER
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
59
APPLY THE IMPROVEMENT KATA!
1
2
3
4
Understand
the Direction
or Challenge
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target
Condition
Iterate
Toward the
Target Condition
TC
CC
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
60
Toyota
Kata
Website
Best wishes for your practice
Join us at the Kata Summit in Miami
on February 18-19, 2015
katasummit.com
© Mike Rother
Toyota Kata
61