Deploying the Improvement Kata in an Organizationmrother/KATA_Files/Deploying_the...Deploying the Improvement Kata in an Organization The role of leaders and managers The role of an

Deploying© Mike Rother 1

Deploying the Improvement Katain an Organization

The role of leaders and managers

The role of anAdvance Group

March 2011


The role of leaders and managers

“The Teachers”


THIS IS ABOUT CHANGINGTHE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Embedding the improvement kata into daily work represents more than just adding something on top of our existing way of managing. It means changing how we manage.

Developing new skills and behavior patterns across an organization is a more significant effort and more far-reaching change -- particularly in leader behavior -- compared to what many of us thought “Lean” was about.

The Challenge

To develop shared skills and behavior patterns across the organization

Not to implement or add on some new techniques, practices or even principles


LEADERS & MANAGERS ARE A KEY LEVER--> Because managers are teachers <--

Whether consciously or not, with their everyday words and actions all managers are teaching their people a mindset and approach.

So how managers think and act -- their state of mind and set of habits -- has a significant effect on the organizationʼs capability.

If you want to develop new skills in an organization, you will need to influence how its managers think and act.


ITʼS MORE TOP-DOWN THAN BOTTOM-UP

Where do you start? Some clues:• This is about shifting the organizational culture• The desired pattern and skills need to be specified• In practicing the four routines there is a periodic need for a coach.• Middle managers will generally and understandably not

set out in a new direction on their own.

These points suggest that culture change happens more top-down than we may have thought. If an organization wants to adjust its culture it will require leadership from the senior level.


WHAT DOES A MANAGER NEED TO LEARN?A leader or manager should personally develop

some improvement kata skill before coaching others.There is a progression.

Awareof it

+ Able todo it

+ Able tocoach it

Is aware of the improvement kata approach to improvement and adaptation

Can teach others

Can effectively apply the improvement kata


CoachingRegularly

Star t

CoachingRegularly

Star t

CoachingRegularly

Star t

CoachingRegularly

Star t

EXAMPLE (Generic) TRAINING DEPLOYMENT

Gate

ImprovementKata

Practice

CoachingKata

Practice

ClassAwareness

Gate

ImprovementKata

Practice

CoachingKata

Practice

ClassAwareness

Gate

ImprovementKata

Practice

CoachingKata

Practice

ClassAwareness

Gate

ImprovementKata

Practice

CoachingKata

Practice

SupervisorsAdvanceGroup

SeniorManagers

AreaManagers

TeamLeaders

CoachingRegularly

Star t

Gate

ImprovementKata

Practice

CoachingKata

Practice

ClassAwareness

Horizontal arrows indicate coach <--> student

relationships

1 2 3 4 5in

crea

sing

cap

abili

ty

increasing involvement

12 MonthPlan

Develop

ClassAwareness

Due to the need for PDCA as you deploy and practice the improvement kata, it is not advised to try to deploy the improvement kata across an entire organization at once

The gating factor is the number of experienced coaches you have


Managers AdvanceGroup

InternalCoaches

ExternalCoach

Teachers(Coaches) Shepherds

MasterCoaches

(2nd Coaches)

SOME KEY ROLES IN DEPLOYINGTHIS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM


The role of an Advance Group

“The Shepherds”


ITʼS NOT A SEAMLESS TRANSITIONSuccess is impossible to plan

Planning a perfect deployment is impossible, so it will be important to sense problems and weaknesses as they arise, learn from them and adapt the plan accordingly.

CurrentCondition

ObstaclesProblemsOld Habits

TargetCondition

Improvement kata integrated into daily

work in the organization

Few things work as intended the first time, the second time, or even the third time.

A plan is a hypothesis!


The path to achieving any target condition, including skill development, is unclear and practicing good PDCA will be a key factor in achieving that condition. This is an example of using the improvement kata at a higher fractal level than at an individual work process.

SO APPLY THE IMPROVEMENT KATA IN DEVELOPING IMPROVEMENT KATA BEHAVIOR AND SKILLS!

Problemsand

ObstaclesCurrent

ConditionTarget

Condition

GoandSee

PLAN

CHECK DO

ACT

Grasp thecurrent condition

Establishtarget condition

PDCA toward target condition

WorkProcess

IndividualPerson Organization

How does this process currently operate?

How do we want this process to operate?

What is the obstacle?What is thenext step?

How does this person currently approach improvement?

How do we want this person to approach improvement?

How do we currently approach improvement?

How do we want to approach improvement?



The Improvement Kata


WE TEND TO START WITHA SMALL “ADVANCE GROUP”

AKA “The Shepherds”

The advance group is not responsible for conducting all coaching and training, nor for making improvement happen at all processes. That will be the responsibility of line managers and leaders, who coach in their areas.

The advance group includes a senior executive (the senior executive in small and mid-sized companies).

The advance group is not a lean staff group. If you have a lean staff group, their role may migrate toward providing coaching for line managers, who are the heart of the lean effort.

The advance group will need guidance from a coach, which can be an outside consultant.

Advance Group refers to a team of 4-6 high level people in the organization who shepherd the development of improvement kata thinking and acting in the line functions of their organization, through deliberate practice.


THE ADVANCE GROUP HAS THREE MAIN TASKSThe initial purpose of the advance group is to develop familiarity with the improvement kata and how it works.It is the advance group who goes first with practicing the improvement kata.

A first step is for the advance group to gain familiarity with the improvement kata, and what learning it entails. This is done by applying the improvement kata to a few processes and reflecting on what is being learned.What will our organization need to do to adopt this mindset?

The advance group leads the creation of an annual improvement-kata deployment plan.

It takes two to three months to develop an annual plan. The plan follows the pattern of the 5 questions.The target condition in this plan includes who, how far,what processes, by when?

The advance group is responsible for monitoring and further developing (via PDCA) the organizationʼs teaching approach. The advance group are the organizationʼs keepers of the kata, so to speak.

Conduct regular reflections of actual current condition against the plan.

1

2

3


Advance Group

Practices

PlanCreation

Year 1

PlanTarget

Condition

EXAMPLE TIMELINEFOR ADVANCE GROUP TASKS

3 - 6 months

1 2 3

Example: 3 X 2-3 day practice sessions, with advance group members accountable for improvement results and learning / practicing the improvement kata and coaching cycles.


THE ADVANCE GROUP REFLECTS REGULARLY,MAKING ADJUSTMENTS AS NECESSARY

By conducting checks as you work to develop improvement-kata behavior across the organization you will learn what you need to work on to achieve that behavior.

3


Example - THE PLAN

Current Management Approach

ImprovementKata Approach

Time

ManagerʼsWorkday


THE REALITY

ImprovementKata Approach

Time

Unforeseen obstacles,problems, etc.

ManagerʼsWorkday

Current Management Approach


When you execute a plan and work toward a target condition you will need to make adjustments based on what you learn from the unforeseen obstacles and problems you discover along the way. This is one of the main reasons we prepare plans: So we can see what is not going as expected.

The advance group should build in this thinking by scheduling reflection times. Every two weeks, for example.

ADVANCE GROUP REFLECTIONThis is where a lot of the success or failure in developing

your own improvement kata management system is determined!

A reflection is typically built aroundthe 5 questions.

An important point to keep in mind during reflections is that we are not testing the improvement kata.

We know the improvement kata is scientific in nature and works. If our results are not as expected it is not the improvement kata that is faulty, but rather something in our application of it that is incorrect.


SEE CHAPTER 9IN TOYOTA KATA

Documents

Deploying the Improvement Kata in an Organizationmrother/KATA_Files/Deploying_the...Deploying the Improvement Kata in an Organization The role of leaders and managers The role of an