Out of The New Crisis – The Time for Scientific Thinking and Kata is Now.

Hello Everyone. It’s my sincere hope that this article finds you well in this current time of crisis for us all. A return to normality seems likely to be slow to happen, every improvement is fragile and every step has to be measured carefully.

At the beginning of this Covid-19 crisis, I asked the question how do I, and my lean and CI colleagues and friends, support organisations to initially survive the current challenging situation, and then go on to thrive in what could be a very different environment for all organisations? I suspect that in far too many cases CI or lean activity was just suspended, awaiting an improvement in the situation, more stability maybe, a less risky financial outlook. Understandable of course, but a great missed opportunity.

Those of us steeped in Lean Thinking for many years are familiar with the history of how Toyota – along with many other Japanese companies – had to adapt to a very challenging environment in their country after the Second World War. It is the stuff of myth and legend, but now seems surprisingly pertinent again. Resources were scarce, there was little direct support from the Banks in terms of loans, so a new strategy had to be developed. What emerged was based on the need to reduce the time taken from receiving an order to getting the money back into the business, thus allowing for the purchasing of more materials, staff wages to be paid etc, so that more products could be made, and so on. To do this effectively, Toyota’s Production System focused on making ‘value’ flow, and took a forensic look at all aspects of non-value adding activity that inhibited this seamless flow of value; eliminating it where possible, and constantly challenging its reduction where elimination wasn’t immediately an option.

It’s difficult to know today exactly the impact the Covid-19 crisis will have on the global economy and people’s lives. It’s fair to say based on what we have already seen, that the impact could be profound. When Deming – who is revered in Japan for the help he gave to their industry and economy in the two decades after WW2 – wrote ‘Out of the Crisis’ in the early Eighties, he was talking about the crisis facing Western manufacturer’s (and the US Automotive sector in particular). It’s also probably fair to say that the current crisis dwarfs the perceived crisis from that time. Perhaps this time more people will take heed of his plea to focus relentlessly on quality of products and services, and a supportive culture of people development and continuous improvement. 38 years since his book was first published, it is still relevant, and I commend it to you if you haven’t yet read it.

So, how do we start moving out of the new Crisis?

Well, the Lean principles that have formed from the adaptation of the Toyota Production System are, and always were a Socio-technical philosophy. The conditions that Toyota and many other Japanese companies found themselves in at the end of WW2 have resonance now, and so many lean tools can provide valuable support in the current environment, but more about these another time. An easy trap to fall into would be to promote a tools-led approach and repeat the mistakes of the past. Let us focus on the Sociological aspect of the TPS this time, and how we can think as leaders – and engage our people in the first steps out of this crisis.

Time for some Starter Kata.

A Kata is nothing more than a practise routine (the word comes from the discipline of learning martial arts), and Toyota Kata (TK) is an aid that can help leaders and their teams structure their thinking and improvement; particularly when the way forward is uncertain and ambiguous. Use of TK is powerful in engaging everyone in improvement activity, allows for rapid improvement and supports a new level of profound understanding of processes in teams. It is based on the concept of Scientific Thinking – a structured process of experimentation that recognises that – much of the time – we just don’t know either enough about the problem or the ‘right’ answer to apply. It’s ideally suited to the current levels of uncertainty that we all face in the coming weeks and months.

If you want to find out a bit more on how TK can help you navigate out of the current crisis, contact me. I am willing host a free 90 – 120 minute online introduction to Toyota Kata. If you can get 3 or 4 other people in your organisation or network to join us, I will run a dedicated session. Register your interest by completing the enquiry section below. It may just be the help you are looking for!

I’d like a Free Online Toyota Kata Demo Please?