Toyota Kata for Innovation

Jason Yip @jchyip

http://jchyip.blogspot.com j.c.yip@computer.org, jcyip@thoughtworks.com

A story of on-site, rapid innovation

Goal: Concrete demo of rapid, onsite, co-creation innovation

http://nordstrominnovationlab.com/#case_study http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/lastminutecom-customers-co-develop-mobile-apps/4004895.article

Goal: Convince the organisation to adopt this kind of approach

Outcome

COULD WE HAVE DONE BETTER?

This is a Design Thinking process

Not sequential, actually iterative The real process is messier but the structure helps you deal with it

http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/

This is a Lean Startup process

The real process is messier but the structure helps you deal with it

The real process is messier but the structure helps you deal with it

What is the essence of structure that helps us deal with a mess?

When I ask that question, the first thought that comes to mind is…

WHAT IS TOYOTA KATA?

http://www.slideshare.net/mike734/pdca-fast-start

The essence of Toyota Kata is about establishing behavioural

routines for systematic, scientific problem-solving

HOW MIGHT TOYOTA KATA APPLY TO (PRODUCT/SERVICE) INNOVATION?

INNOVATION KATA

What is the perfect outcome from a customer perspective?

Understand the customer’s job so clearly that the innovation becomes obvious

Observation, facts, and data OVER survey and opinion

How does the customer’s job NEED to work?

Experimenting to make better now OVER talking about how to make perfect later

UNDERSTAND THE DIRECTION

Direction giver, does not need to be achievable Improvements are otherwise random

What is the perfect outcome from the perspective of the customer?

GRASP THE CURRENT CONDITION

Focus on understand the customer’s job before coming up

with ideas

Focus on the customer jobs, not on the customers

Understand the customer’s job so clearly that the innovation

becomes obvious

Product-shaped hole

The goal is not to identify a product or service to build but

to better understand the customer’s job so we can

improve it (by introducing a product or service)

Observations, facts, data •  Direct, in-context

observation •  Asking clarifying

questions in-context •  Video •  Logs, records, etc.

Survey, opinion •  Focus group •  Customer survey •  Out of context interview •  Meeting room discussions •  Workshops •  SME opinion

ESTABLISH THE NEXT TARGET CONDITION

Modified from Toyota Kata by Mike Rother

“A target is an outcome, and a target condition is a description of a process operation in a way – in a pattern – required to achieve the desired outcome” Mike Rother, Toyota Kata

Target != Target Condition

•  Target: The desired customer outcome •  Target condition: A description of how

the customer will interact with the product or service to achieve their desired outcome

ITERATE TOWARD THE TARGET CONDITION

Date, Step & Metric What Happened What We LearnedWhat do you expect?

Con

duct

the

Expe

rimen

t

PDCA CYCLES RECORDProcess:Learner:

Obstacle:

Do

a C

oach

ing

Cyc

le

Coach:

(Each row = one experiment)

Prediction written before the experiment

Evidence recorded after the

experiment

The specific obstacle to the target condition

we are addressing

The customer’s job

If the next step is unclear, then the answer is almost always,

“Let’s go and see.”

What is the perfect outcome from a customer perspective?

Understand the customer’s job so clearly that the innovation becomes obvious

Observation, facts, and data OVER interviews and opinion

How does the customer’s job NEED to work?

Experimenting to make better now OVER talking about how to make perfect later

INNOVATION COACHING KATA

“… the goal is not necessarily to develop the very best solution today, but to develop the capability of the people in the organization to solve problems.” Mike Rother, Toyota Kata

The goal is not just to develop the best product today, but to develop the capability of the people in the organisation to develop products

© Mike Rother! PDCA FAST START! B.*

For the Coach FO;"P98;"G<!GO9EKnI!F!"LH;>F9<E>"

http://www.slideshare.net/mike734/pdca-fast-start

AN INNOVATION STORY RE-TOLD

How does the story go if we had applied the Innovation Kata?

The perfect job for an urban grocery shopper

•  Don’t have to think too much about what to get – good options readily apparent

•  Don’t have to worry about healthiness of meal – all options are good

•  Minimal walking distance to get everything I need for the meal – in and out

What is urban shopping currently like?

•  Wander around aimlessly funneled by planned path through store, not sure what to get – lots of back and forth

•  Designed for related inventory not for making a meal

•  Easier to just grab a packaged meal or roast chicken

What’s the next target condition?

•  For a core ingredient, have simple meal ideas and supporting ingredients readily nearby

What’s the next experiment?

•  More core ingredients •  More sophisticated meals

QUESTIONS… AS IN MY QUESTIONS TO YOU

Questions 1.  Does this proposed approach actually solve

a problem? 2.  Is it actually feasible? What would be the

obstacles? 3.  What might be the next step if you were to

try this where you are? 4.  How quickly might we see what we have

learned from the next step?