Toyota Kata – Introduction and Experiences

Teemu Toivonen

Introduction

• My name is Teemu Toivonen • I work as manager of application services at Aalto IT and

have introduced Lean and Agile practices to the way we work

• I have about two years of experience of Toyota Kata, and I don’t consider my self an expert. I’m a practitioner

• I’m very interested in Lean Agile, Lean, Coaching and Systems Thinking– I enjoy discussing and debating these topics so please indulge

me (@number_9_, teemu.toivonen@gmail.com or over a beer;)

Goal for the eventYou will have a basic understanding of the philosophy of Toyota Kata and how it works. This will be achieved by a combination of:• Short lectures• Discussion• Exercises

Engaging conversation is more important than quiet listening so when you have a question or comment please

share it!

What is a Kata?

Kata is a routine or repeating pattern for doing something

Why are habits and routines important?

• Can someone describe shortly the difference between driving a car:– The first time they drove – After several years of experience

Routines and habits are the bases for effective and efficient action!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristoteles

Toyota Kata is about creating habits that create excellence.

The Philosophy Behind Toyota Kata

1. The second law of thermodynamics: everything deteriorates over time – There is no stable condition that can

be maintained– The only solution is to improve

constantly

2. Grow people and maximize human potential by engaging people to continually improve as part of their everyday work

Improvement

Entropy

Mentee

Improvement Kata Coaching Kata

Mentor

Toyota Kata

Philosophy:• Continually improve as part of everyday work to get

better and fight entropy• Grow people and maximize human potential by engaging

them in the improvement through Toyota Kata

Questions or comments about the

overview?

Toyota Kata is two behavioral routines to realize these goals

Improvement Kata

Long term vision”North Star”

1. Understand the direction2. Understand the current condition3. Define the Next target condition4. Experiment your way to the target5. Start over

Next target condition

A good target condition is abouth a

month away

PDCA-experiment1. Hypothesis2. Experiment3. Result4. Learning

PDCA experimentyour way to the target

Current conditionUnderstand deeply

Example: Weight lose

• I will be using weight lose as an simple example of the concepts I’ll be talking about

1. Long term vision

• Also known as “True North” or “North Star”• Sets the direction for short term plans• Is brief and describes the outcome and the

process• Toyota manufacturing example paraphrased: – “One piece flow, zero defects and 100% value

adding steps (no waste)”• Does not need to be realistically achievable• Choose wisely

== TASK

This seems important!

This seems interesting

There is always too much to do and by

random choices you get nowhere

A team without a North Star

North Star

Things you must do!

Things you can do

Things you can do

A team with a North Star

Weight lose: North Star

• Enough exercise to stay on good shape and relax

• Eat healthy and good food• Spend quality time with family and friends

with good energy• Get enough rest and downtime

2. Understand the current condition

• Understanding the current condition is the bases for going forward and means going deeper than the superficial lever– Involves Systems Thinking and a process viewpoint

• “Go and see”It’s a lot harder to

really see than you’d guess

Current condition: Weight lose

• Quality of food is poor and the amount of calories is too big– Especially too much carbohydrates and fat

• Not enough exercise– Weights once a week– Basketball once a week

• Weight 107 kilograms

3. Set the target condition• A target condition describes both the outcome and process

and can be achieved in 1-3 months – In the beginning shorter is better for learning

• A good target condition is challenging– Just right, not too easy and not too difficult

• You can start with skeleton target (challenge) and fill in the details as you learn more (target condition)

A good target condition is just

beyond where you can see clearly

Target condition: Weight lose

• Regular meal and snack schedule• Less calories per meal by healthy composition

of meals• Exercise– Weights 2-3 times a week– Basketball 2 times a week

• Lose 5 kilograms of weight in 3 months

What are the obstacles?

• As part of understanding the current condition and setting the target condition you gain insights into the obstacles that are in your way

• Pick one (which one seems most important) and start finding your way toward your target condition one step at a time with PDCA experiments

Obstacles: Weight lose

• Meal sizes are too big – food is good and I like to eat

• Too busy and tired to get exercise. Mostly a feeling rather than a fact

4. PDCA experimentsWhat is your hypothesis?

Design a quick experimentWhat is the expected outcome?

Run the experiment“quick and light”

What was the actual outcome?Was it what you expected?

What did you learn?

Time for a new plan!or

How do I sustain the results?

Points of emphasis

Short iteration cycles Go and see Focus on learning

4. Navigate towards the target with experiments

Find the route to the target by learning from experiments and

focusing on the next step forward based on that learning

Experiments: Weight loseExperiment Expected outcome Actual outcome Learning

Eat smaller meals• Lunch• Dinner

Less food consumption during the day

More unhealthy snacks in the afternoon and evening

Eating smaller meals makes me eat more snacks.

Lunch: Eat half meat and half salad

Less calories during the day and protein will keep hunger away

Works out pretty much as planned, except when there is good desert

Eating salad and protein is good diet choice and makes it easy to eat less .

Increase basketball training by making commitment to friends to play on two days

Social pressure will help me get more exercise

At the beginning difficult, but as it became a habit it got easier.

Social commitment is a good motivator. New habits are difficult in the beginning.

Improvement Kata

Long term vision”North Star”

1. Understand the direction2. Understand the current condition3. Define the Next target condition4. Experiment your way to the target5. Start over

Next target condition

A good target condition is abouth a month

away. Describes both outcome and process

PDCA-experiment1. Hypothesis2. Experiment3. Result4. LearningRemember quick experiment cycles!

PDCA experimentyour way to the target

Points of emphasis

Current conditionUnderstand deeply

Short iteration cycles

Go and see

Focus on learning

Questions before the exercise?

Improvement Kata exercise

The Coaching Kata

The purpose of the Coaching Kata is to teach and coach the Improvement Kata using real world problems as practice.

Mentee

Improvement Kata Coaching Kata

Mentor

When do you need a mentor/coach?

The need never goes a way. You can spend a lifetime learning the Improvement Kata and still have need for improvement. The role of the coach is to help you learn.

No one questions why world class athlete’s need coaches. Why should work be different?

The responsibilities of the mentor

• Teach the basics of the Improvement Kata to the mentee

• Develop the mentees abilities by coaching him in the use of the Improvement Kata through real problems/challenges

• The mentor can not give solutions to the mentee, but is responsible for the results

Requirements for the mentor

The mentor must have first hand knowledge and experience of using the Improvement Kata.

The mentor must be involved in the Improvement Kata in order to coach properly. Don’t coach blind.

Focus on understanding the long term direction and current condition in order to set a good and challenging next target condition.

Keep the target condition clear in the mind while focusing on the next step towards that target condition. A mindset of experimenting and learning is crucial.

Coaching Kata

Before the target condition is set

After the target condition is set

Coaching before the target condition is set

• Is there a clear and shared vision for the long term goal to set the direction?

• Does the mentee understand the current condition deeply?

• Does he know what is the next target condition? Do you need to give him a challenge that he can turn into the target condition?

Coaching after the target condition is set

The five questions:1. What is the target condition?2. What is the actual condition now?3. What obstacles are now preventing you from

reaching the target condition? Which one are you addressing now?

4. What is your next step (PDCA experiment)5. When can we go and see what we have learned

form taking that step?

From Toyota Kata by Mike Rother

The next step

The most important thing is making sure that the next step is clear for the mentee.

It is better for the mentee to figure out the next step, but if necessary the mentor can decide it. Go and see XYZ!

Remember routines are powerful…

… even in coaching!

Coaching questions

1. What is the North Star?2. What is the Current Condition?3. What is the next Target Condition?4. What is the first step?

1. What is the Target Condition?2. What is the Actual Condition?3. Which Obstacle are you working on?4. What is your Next Step5. When can we Go and See?

The purpose of the Coaching Kata is to teach and coach the Improvement Kata using real world problems as practice.

Coaching Kata

Before the target condition is set After the target condition is set

Key points

• Focus on guiding the Improvement Kata pattern• Ask question, don’t give answers • In unclear situations suggest: go and see• Remind the mentee about the key aspects of

the Improvement Kata• Short and frequent coaching discussions• Is the next step clear?

Coaching Kata exercise

A3 - template

A3-document

Mentee Mentor

A3 is a single page document to support the Improvement and Coaching Katas.

A3 – documents help to…

Create shared understandingLearn the Kata Create structure

(thinking and coaching)

The A3 is not a form to fill! It is a living document that is updated and revised throughout the Kata.

A3 and organizational learning

Solutions are documented together with their context

The why behind the solutions is also documented

A3 documents also reveal the thinking process that

lead to finding the solution

Share the failures. Worst practice is as valuable

as best practice

A3 exercise

Study the A3 template and try to understand how you could use it to help you in the:– Improvement Kata– Coaching Kata

Experiences and lessons learned

Toyota Kata at application services unit in Aalto IT

• About 35 people• Almost everyone has used the Improvement Kata

and A3 documents in their work• 5-10 people use the Improvement Kata actively

on their own accord. The rest use it on occasion• I and few other people can act as coaches, but

this is our bottleneck.• Using Toyota Kata and A3 templates has already

made a considerable improvement for us

To what kind of work do we apply the Improvement Kata on?

• Process improvement work• Improving our production services by

understanding and eliminating root causes behind the incidents

• Good substitute for a lot of traditional project work– For example a design of a new service can be a

series of Improvement Katas

Get started by practicing the Improvement Kata. Start with a simple problem to practice the form, but quickly move to more challenging problems.

Remember to keep the time scales small in the beginning (at most a month). You will learn better this way.

Better yet. Find someone who wants to learn with you and share your experiences about the Improvement Kata. Do not start with the Coaching Kata before you gain experience in the Improvement Kata.

Choose the initial group of Improvement Kata pioneers. Organizational position can be a factor, but you should also consider how enthusiastic the person is.

I made the initial mistake of choosing just my team leaders. Soon I added more enthusiastic pioneers to the group.

Teach the pioneers the basics of the Improvement Kata and get them to experiment with it. Start using the Coaching Kata with them after a while. Be honest about your expertise level. Emphasize learning together.

Start scaling up by giving training sessions on the Improvement Kata and A3 – documents. Several short trainings sessions are better than one “big” one.

Make sure there is background material that people can study. Do everything you can to encourage experimenting.

Try to find ways to make Toyota Kata desirable. Not just the management fad of the month.

Have your pioneers share their experiences and learning.

A3 – documents can be a great help in teaching the Toyota Kata and making the results visible.

Remember that there is a real risk that it becomes too much about writing the A3 – documents instead of the thinking and behavioral patterns.

Develop your coaching capability by teaching your pioneers (and other who show promise in the Improvement Kata) the coaching Kata and ask them to choose people who they will start mentoring.

Follow up on their coaching efforts regularly. Remember to support and encourage their efforts.

Be explicit about teaching the Coaching Kata. I made the mistake of assuming people will learn it from being Coached. Teaching it explicitly will save you time and frustration.

Some will learn the Improvement Kata with ease. Most won’t. Be patient. There are no shortcuts. The level of coaching is critical in developing people in the Improvement Kata.

People who can do the Coaching Kata will be your bottleneck. Focus on developing this competence. There are no shortcuts here either.

Developing a real capability in Toyota Kata is really long term process. Trying to force the issue will only result in superficial learning.

Analogy to Agile: It is relative to easy to do Agile aka implement Scrum, but it is really difficult to actually be Agile.

Sources and additional information

Toyota Kata by Mike Rother

It is the single best book about Lean I have read and read a lot

Håkan Forss has also interesting things to say about Toyota Kata.

Q & A

• Comments?• Questions?• Feedback?

Contact me if you want to discuss afterwards: Teemu.Toivonen@gmail.com@number_9_

Mentee

Improvement Kata Coaching Kata

Mentor

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristoteles

Toyota Kata is about creating habits that create excellence.