1. CREATING LEAN MANAGERS
The Challenge of
CREATING LEAN MANAGERS
By Mike Rother
August 2014
This presentation was created with assistance
from Joakim Hillberg and Pia Anhede

2. 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.

3. WHAT I’M FOCUSING ON TODAY
Lean tools and techniques to improve quality, cost and delivery
Visible
A systematic, scientific way of thinking and acting
Managers as the teachers of that way
Less
Visible
This less visible part is a context
for making the Lean tools and practices work

4. THE TOYOTA KATA RESEARCH
Website
THE TOYOTA KATA RESEARCH
Guided by these two research questions:
What are the unseen managerial routines and thinking that lie behind Toyota’s success with continuous improvement and adaptation?
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.

5. THE IMPROVEMENT KATA MODEL
Understand
the Direction
or Challenge
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target CC TC 1 2 3 4
Iterate
Toward the Target Condition
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.

6. 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.

7. 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
Iterate Toward the Target Condition
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the Next Target Condition
Organization
Level
Value Stream
Level
Value Stream
Loop Level
Process
Level
PLANNING
EXECUTING

8. * Scientific Thinking *
PART I
* Scientific Thinking *

9. This could be any work process
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

10. Record: What would you improve?
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?

11. THE FAUCET ASSEMBLY PROCESS

12. ASK 5 PEOPLE WHAT TO IMPROVE, GET 6 DIFFERENT ANSWERS
= Observed Wastes,
Problems, Opportunities
This seems important!
This seems interesting
There's always too much to do, and by random choices we get nowhere
We have limited time and resources for improvement!
Illustration by Teemu Toivonen

13. IMPROVEMENT BASED ON “ELIMINATE WASTE” IS FLAWED
The elimination of waste is an outcome
of pursuing a particular goal

14. FIRST YOU NEED A TARGET CONDITION What do you want to achieve?
Things
we HAVE
to do
Things we
CAN do

15. THAT TAKES SOME ANALYSIS & PLANNING✓ ✓ ✓

16. 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!
Typical Action Plan
Well, not quite...

17. Before I roll, please write down: What will be the sum of the 3 rolls?
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?

18. Those of you who wrote down the incorrect sum...
How do you feel?

19. Not so bad,
it’s just chance

20. QUESTION #2
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ?
What will be the next number in this series?
Please write down your answer

21. Those of you who wrote down How do you feel this time?
ANSWER
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 2
Those of you who wrote down
the incorrect sum...
How do you feel this time?

22. Hey!

23. about these two scenarios?
What was different
about these two scenarios?

24. 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?

25. 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

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. SMALL, RAPID EXPERIMENTS ADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE QUICKLY
The Grey Zone
Next
Target Condition
(date)
Current Condition

29. VIDEO - Working Iteratively
(3 minutes)
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel

30. But wait, there’s a problem…
GREAT, LET’S GO!
The Scientific IK Pattern...
...suits complex, dynamic conditions!
...makes empowerment possible!
But wait, there’s a problem…

31. PART II
Deliberate Practice
for *Developing*
Scientific Thinking

32. LET’S LOOK AT THE SECOND
TK RESEARCH QUESTION
Toyota Kata research questions:
What are the unseen managerial routines and thinking that lie behind Toyota’s success with continuous improvement and adaptation?
How can other companies develop similar routines and thinking in their organizations?

33. Scientific
Thinking
Born?
Learned?

34. Scientific Thinking Born? Learned?
We are notoriously bad at scientific thinking, due to natural, unconscious mental mechanisms

35. IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS
Read what you see
IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS

36. IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS
Our brain automatically fills in blanks, instead of saying to us “Sorry, I don’t know yet”

37. SO WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR CHANGE TO HAPPEN?
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

38. LET’S TRY JUST A SMALL CHANGE
Change hands, to non-dominant
Start when I say “go”
Sign your name 5 times again
Raise your hand when you are finished

39. HOW DID IT FEEL THE SECOND TIME
COMPARED TO THE FIRST?

40. WE HAVE A LEAN DILEMMA Dilemma
How did it feel
the second time?
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.
“Different”
“Difficult”
“Weird”
“Uncomfortable”
Dilemma
We want to change to working scientifically, according to something like the Improvement Kata pattern.
We naturally tend to stick with our current ways of doing things because they use existing neural circuits that require less energy.
-- however --

41. 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.

42. Scientific
Thinking
Born
It’s Learned
OK... HOW?

43. VIDEO - A Way the Brain Learns
(2 minutes)
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel

44. l k m j 4 INGREDIENTS FOR ACQUIRING NEW SKILLS COACHING PRACTICE
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.
COACHING
Corrective
feedback
PRACTICE
Daily
MASTERY
Overcoming
obstacles
KATA
Structured practice
routines (beginner) j k l m
Let’s take a quick look at each ingredient

45. Kata are structured routines you practice1
WHAT ARE KATA?
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.
“Let’s begin by practicing it this way for a while.”

46. They help you get started1
KATA ARE LIKE
ROCKET ENGINES
They help you get started
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.
KATA

47. 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 *

48. 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.

49. Careful... Practice makes permanent3
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.

50. 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
Establish the Next Target Condition
Iterate
Toward the Target Condition
Understand the
Direction
Grasp the Current Condition
Improvement
Kata
Learner
‘Executing’
Coaching Cycles
Coaching
Kata
‘Planning’ Coaching Cycles
Coach
(Manager)

51. The role of the Learner’s emotions4
MASTERY
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.
Danger Zone
Learning Zone
Apparent
Certainty
Learner’s current threshold of knowledge & skill

52. VIDEO - A Coaching Cycle Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel
(5 minutes)
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel

53. 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.

54. A SHIFT TO “21ST CENTURY LEAN”

55. 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.
Vice
President
COACH
to D
to C
to B
to A
LEARNER
to E A B C D E
Value-Stream
Manager
Department
Process
Supervisor
Operator
Teaching a way of thinking and acting
– a deliberate culture – should get
integrated into the organization’s
normal chain of management.

56. HOW IT WORKS WHEN IT’S IN PLACE
Iterate Toward the Target Condition
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the Next Target Condition
Organization
Level
Value Stream
Level
Value Stream
Loop Level
Process
Level
PLANNING
EXECUTING

57. HOW IT WORKS WHEN IT’S IN PLACE
Iterate Toward the Target Condition
Understand
the
Direction
(from level above)
Coach/Learner
relationships
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the Next Target Condition
Organization
Level
Longer-
Cycle Experiments
Value Stream
Level
Current State Value Stream Mapping
Future State Value Stream Mapping
Value Stream
Loop Level
Process
Level
Short-
Cycle Experiments
PLANNING
EXECUTING

58. BUT GETTING THERE IS THE CHALLENGE
Catch-22: Managers have to be Learners first
Here you understand the thinking behind the Kata and can teach others
Able to TEACH it
“Management”
Skill development begins here
Learning begins when
you start applying the Improvement Kata yourself
Able to DO it
AWARE of it
Concepts alone generally
don’t change anything

59. THERE IS
ONE GOOD ANSWER

60. APPLY THE IMPROVEMENT KATA!
Understand
the Direction
or Challenge
Grasp the
Current
Condition
Establish the
Next Target CC TC 1 2 3 4
Iterate
Toward the Target Condition

61. Best wishes for your practice Join us at the Kata Summit in Miami
Toyota
Kata
Website
Best wishes for your practice
Join us at the Kata Summit in Miami
on February 18-19, 2015
katasummit.com