Hoshin Kanri: Another Look

Hoshin Kanri has been catching on in companies with lean programs for over 40 years, since it was adopted by Toyota. It is not a new idea. Align goals up, down, and sideways to the corporate strategy. Simple idea, very complex to do.

The reasons for its difficulty include:

- Few companies have a well-articulated strategy.
- Few companies have clear business plans beyond financial plans for revenue growth and cost reduction.
- Few companies have the lean leadership capability to translate desired outcomes to actionable plans for improvement.

In this video, Dr.Liker talks about all of these missing elements as well as what should be happening to convert desired outcomes into patterns of work at all levels of the organization.

He also explains why in the lean leadership model we put hoshin kanri last after leadership development and coaching. He relates this to Toyota Kata which provides a means to understand the process and skills required for hoshin kanri to be truly effective.