Until recently, most of the Lean efforts have been focused on adapting to an organization’s own challenges with the tools put forward by Toyota Motor Corporation. However, as research has shown, these efforts won’t bring sustainable results if organizations do not change their thinking and practices. This led Mike Rother to seek to understand the thinking processes and coaching behaviors of Toyota managers that explained in great part Toyota’s success with continuous improvement. He modeled those processes and behaviors and they became known as the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata. With this mental model, organizations can now experiment their way forward, make their own learnings, and use Toyota Kata as a lever to build a true culture of continuous improvement!
In the Toyota Kata Memory Jogger, Jean-Marc Legentil, Marc-Olivier Legentil, and Tilo Schwarz, not only explain the fundamentals of Toyota Kata, but they go in further depth in many areas. For instance, they bring very good insights on how to become a better Coach through the art of asking questions. They also propose a list of advanced questions for the Coaching Kata cycle, give some tips for the Second Coach, show how Kata works with the Daily Management System, and much more!
Enjoy the Toyota Kata Memory Jogger and keep it handy!
Sylvain Landry, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Logistics and Operations Management
HEC Montréal, Canada