Leading, Learning, Innovation with Toyota Kata

© 2012 Gerardo Aulinger, www.verbesserungskata.de

Leading, Learning, Innovation How to unfold extraordinary human capabilities

using the Improvement Kata

Gerd Aulinger, 2012

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Welcome to www.verbesserungskata.de


What you see here shouldn’t work at all, but it does!

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The inline powder-coating equipment in this cell takes up just 11 m2

and cost only € 60,000. External logistics were eliminated and

coating costs halved, while quality was improved.

All this was done although coating experts said it couldn‘t be done!


What turns ordinary people into real, creative innovators?

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Powder-coating equipment built entirely by ordinary

Festool staff with no powder-coating experience.

Their advantage? They didn’t know much, they had

no preconceptions and, above all, they didn’t know

that it couldn’t be done, but they did have a Kata!


Kata are routines practiced deliberately…

…to master new ways of acting and thinking, making

them unconscious habits

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The word “Kata” is derived from learning routines used to internalize combat

techniques in the Japanese martial arts.

They are practiced in order to make this techniques second nature and thereby

fast, reflex reactions, necessary, for example in unpredictable combat situations.


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Unsolved problems

and obstacles

The “Improvement Kata” is a routine used to make

striving and scientific learning a daily habit

Current capabilities

Learning task

1- Challenging

2- Solvable

3- Solution-neutral

4- No solution known

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Where we are… …and where we need to be!


Why do we need an

Improvement Kata?

What might be the role of

managers in this?

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Organisations will never be better than their people

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Good results

through

Good processes

Good employees (capable x motivated)

through

Good leadership

through


For economic reasons alone, it makes sense to ask:

“What do you enjoy about work?”

Typical answers given during brainstorming sessions: - Overcoming challenges - Learning - Variety, trying new things - Team spirit, constructive exchange of ideas, sense of belonging - Recognition and praise, celebrating successes - Seeing progress, improving, making a difference - Helping other people in their work - Scope for development, personal responsibility - Etc.

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Brains are learning organs, so they reward us with joy

when we learn (for example by means of serotonin)

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Brain activity measured using computed tomography, presented by Prof. Gerald Hüther at Production Systems 2009


What does an appropriate

learning task look like?

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A good example of a challenging learning task

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This learning task

is good because it is:

1- Challenging

2- Solvable

3- Solution-neutral 4- No solution is known

Product specifications

- Maximum speed = 250 km/h

- Sale price < €30,000

- Number of passengers = 1-5 pax

- Safety = 5 star Euro NCAP

- Boot space > 700 litres

- Range > 1,000 km

AND…

- CO2 emissions = 0


Good target conditions make a task a learning task

Reliability = 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 ≈ 50%

3 connected machining centres with a total reliability of 50%

→ So a target of 70% is set!

R = 0.8 R = 0.8 R = 0.8

The path of least resistance: buffering the disruptions.

→ No real improvement and nothing is learned!

R = 0.8 R = 0.8 R = 0.8

Target: Reliability = 70%

Target condition: Not defined!

A challenging target condition.

→ Now we must learn in order to achieve the goal!

Target: Reliability = 70%

Target condition: Buffers = 0 R1=R2=R3 = 90% R = 0.9 R = 0.9 R = 0.9

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Coating facility developed in small learning steps and

experiments, most of which led to “negative” results

Since science (and coating equipment!) evolves through refuted hypotheses, we usually

used cheap and easy to rebuild cardboard and old equipment for the initial experiments.

Not until we were sure if and how it would work did we build production versions.

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Where do teams in

organisations get their

learning tasks?

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Disruptive innovations are new solutions to old problems

Fine tuning an existing

technology…

…or innovating on the ongoing problem

of „knowledge transmission“?

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Our current capabilities and solutions

Customer´s problems and needs

Printed encyclopedia


You don´t run to where the ball is,

but to where it´s going to be!

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Just fine-tuning our core competencies doesn’t guarantee our future success. Although we are advised to focus on them, this may be a trap.

We should also focus on our core in-competencies…


Do you know your organisation´s core in-competencies?

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A definition:

Core in-competencies: currently non-existent

competencies that can become future core competencies, and indispensable for your organization’s long-term competitiveness and survival.


Customers don’t want drills , they want holes!

Examples of current solutions…

Car with combustion engine

Kerosene-powered aircraft

DVDs and CDs

Chemical photography

Drill

The solutions our company offers are

based on it’s current competencies and

expertise.

…and the underlying neutral needs:

Personal mobility

Flying

Films and music

Photography

Holes

Customer problems and needs are by their

nature of longer duration than the solutions

offered by our companies, they are solution-

neutral.

Company Customer

Our current capabilities and solutions

Their problems and needs

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Why should someone

voluntarily enter the learning

zone, with all its attendant

risks?

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“If you think it can be done or if you think it can’t be

done, you will be right!” - Henry Ford

Challenge

Mindset

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“It can be done!”

Why?

Positive line of

argument

Search for solutions

High

probability of success

“I told you: it can be done!”

“It cannot be done!”

Why?

Negative line of

argument

Search for problems

Low

probability of success

“I told you: it cannot be done!” .


Learning organisations feel comfortable with striving

to learn about their core in-competencies

Company Customer

Current capabilities and

solutions

Problems and needs

Company Customer

Current capabilities and

solutions Problems and

needs

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Core competencies:

focus on what we can do well

Innovation:

focus on what we can’t yet do

“I avoid it!”

“I’m OK with it!”

“I like it!”


Regular Kata practice and coaching can change a

conservative mindset into an open, ‘explorative’ attitude

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Certainty Certainty

Explorative attitude of a kata novice

Conservative attitude (the norm)

Certainty

Explorative attitude of an experienced kata practitioner

“I avoid it!”


“I like it!”


Through frequent practice more electrical impulses are

fired and synapses are ‘trained’ to perform better.

Untrained synapse Trained synapse

High electrical

resistance

Low electrical

resistance

changeable

chemical bond

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Which management

routines help us develop

people for the learning

zone?

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It’s through coaching that the mentee learns how to

apply the Improvement Kata in a natural way

1- Target condition?

1- Challenging

2- Solvable

3- Solution-neutral

4- There’s no solution known

2- Current condition? 3 - Current obstacles?

The Improvement Kata:

4 - Next step?

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The Coaching Kata’s 5 questions:

1- What is the target condition for this process?

2- What is the current condition of this process?

3- What obstacles are currently preventing you from achieving the target condition?

4- Which one obstacle will you tackle next and what is therefore your next step?

5- When will we be able to see what you have learned from the next step?

5 – When can we go and see?


Don’t forget, fearful beginners need your experience and

coaching support to learn to accept the uncertainty-zone

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Unsolved problems

Since the beginner

feels stress…

…the experienced

coach should transmit

confidence

Target

condition

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Unsolved problems

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“I avoid it!”


“I like it!”

Being allowed to make mistakes is essential for scientific work and learning.

The coach must understand this in order to be accepted by his mentee as a teacher, criticism

and control should be avoided at any time!

Current condition

Target

condition

Current condition


Kata coaching cascade consisting of four roles,

only 1 and 2 should solve process problems.

1 Employee in the process: Can I work according to standard? 2 Process improver: Is the (production) process running according to standard? 3 Coach: Is the improvement process running according to the IK? 4 Coach-Coach: Is the coaching process running according to the CK?

Level 1 Development of

(production) processes

Level 2 Employee and

organisation development

Employee in the process

Coach

Coach-Coach

1

2

3

4

IK

CK1

CK2

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Process improver (employee

on the process)

1

2 3 4


What can we learn

from this for our

organisations?

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“Most automotive manufacturers build good cars.

We build good people who build good cars” - Toyota

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Optimisation by ‘experts’

in periodic workshops

Process

Improvement capacity and

innovation remain unharnessed

and are kept small.

Optimisation by everybody

everyday!

Process

Improvement capacity and

innovation are fully harnessed

and get expanded continually.

The Improvers

The Improvers


More than only choosing tasks that suit our capabilities,

we should also develop and use our special human

capabilities to meet new challenges

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Company

Current knowledge threshold

Sell our

capabilities

Customer

Develop new capabilities

Future knowledge threshold


If organisations will never be better than their people,

where should managers be investing their time?

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Focus in the past:

+ ROI-based decisions

+ Mistrust and control

+ Extrinsic motivation

Focus from now on:

+ Improvement Kata including target costing

+ Employee development via Coaching Kata

+ Intrinsic motivation

Good results

through

Good processes

Good employees (capable x motivated)

through

Good leadership

through


Leading, Learning, Innovation How to unfold extraordinary human capabilities

using the Improvement Kata

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Welcome to www.verbesserungskata.de


Gerardo Aulinger Gerd Aulinger has worked as a researcher, consultant and trainer for the past 15 years. From 2007 to 2011 he was in charge of stationary-device production at Festool’s Neidlingen plant, overall winner of Germany’s 2008 Factory of the Year competition. Gerd’s initial focus was on the management of production optimisation and design projects in various industries. He has since focused increasingly on development and field-testing of modern, Toyota-inspired management methods. Gerd’s approaches are geared towards maximising flow by optimising employee skill development and motivation. Toward this end he coaches managers and leaders in the application of the Improvement and Coaching Kata with a view to achieving exceptional results.

Gerardo Aulinger Kata ambassador, researcher, management trainer and coach E-mail: [email protected] Mobile: +49 170 2134018

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Education

Leading, Learning, Innovation with Toyota Kata