This document outlines the key principles of the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata approach to driving continuous improvement. It discusses how having a clear direction, understanding the current state, and taking an experimental approach are necessary to continuously learn and make progress toward goals. The document also notes that creating real change requires getting outside one's comfort zone. It provides examples showing that thinking you know the answer can prevent learning, and that having a dynamic, adaptive approach is needed to navigate the "knowledge threshold" and unexpected situations that arise when pursuing improvement. Overall, the document promotes the Improvement Kata as a way to systematically practice scientific thinking and lead challenge-driven improvements.

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Learn scientific thinking
by practicing the
Improvement Kata
& Coaching Kata
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A presentation by
Joakim Hillberg
and
Pia Anhede
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May 2014
Revere AB
Göteborg, Sweden
joakim@hillberg.com pia@anhede.com

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Organizations Disappear
Lifeexpectancyisabout12-15yearsanddecreasing…
RIP
A lot of good
ideas but bad
habits and little
improvement
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Leaders want a magic pill or simple
formula for success … but there is none !
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So what should we do?
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Some core principles for improving
 100 brains are more than 1, i.e.
not enough with leaders improving
 Everyone has two jobs; do and improve
– Furthest out in organization, closest to the
customer, is where value added is created
and knowledge of what is delivered
– Leaderships deploys direction and train. Can not delegate
improvement work.
 Crucial skills is ability to handle problems and
challenges. Demands a change in behavior!
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Why Lean?
• Different from other management theories
• ”Practice-based”, i.e. based on what works
with Toyota as reference. Lean is developed
from learning not from design and theory.
• Other methods are theory based, not rooted in
actual work.
• This also means that Lean is about doing!
• Fundamental thinking in Lean is improving
scientifically (PDCA thinking)
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Create flow
Customer
perspective
Daily
pulse
Plan,
measurements,
standards
Visual
control
System for
continuous
improvement
Execute and improve
(focus on deviations)
We do all of this in
order to move towards
our strategic direction.
There is no reason to
do lean just for the
sake of it!
Challenge and improve
What is Lean ?
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So Lean sounds great but there are
challenges in making it happen
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Results
15%
Years
1 3 5 7 9
A
B
C
D
Low
Hanging
Fruit
Region
85%
Case A – Continued success
Case B – Flat lined trend
Case C – Slight decline
Case D, E, F – Major decline
Case G – Never got off the ground
E
F
G
Source: Shingo Prize Institute & Art Smalley
 According to Shingo Prize Institute data, only about 15% of the organizations
implementing Lean continue to develop, improve and deliver measureable results.
 In other words, 85% of the organizations flatten out and fall back.

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You cannot just copy those who
are successful at it ?
(e.g. Toyota)
… or just use methods and tools?
A common mistake in Lean is just to use ready made solutions, tools, methods.
Three relevant questions:
1. Who invented the methods ?
2. What problem was solved ?
3. Do we have the same problem ?
But the big question is how can we change the organizational behavior??
A challenge is to create a culture of
continuous improvement & scientific thinking
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.se/2008/04/comedy-buddies.html

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Purpose of Kata
 How to practice, both practically and systematically, in
making challenging, strategically-relevant improvements.
 To train leaders in how to lead and coach challenge-driven
improvements.
 This can change an organization’s behavior and culture to
one of continuous improvement and scientific thinking.
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How good are you
at improving ?
 In groups of 4
 Watch the video of the assembly process.
Each person watch one of the 4 operators.
 Video will roll 5 minutes
 Record: What would you improve?
 Present what you suggest on flipchart
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What’s the problem with improving via
random suggestions & eliminating waste?
Graphic from a post on Linkedin
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If you ask people what they think we
should improve, you will get as many
answers as individuals!
Lots of problems, wastes and
improvement opportunities
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This is
important
Hmm,
interesting
We did this at
my prior job …
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If we do not have a clear direction, we
will fool ourselves that things get better
just as long we get things done!
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1. We want to have a clear and strategically-relevant
direction for our improvements.
Cat: Where are you going?
Alice: Which way should I go?
Cat: That depends on where you are going.
Alice: I don’t know.
Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.
Will lead to change, but not what we need
and we will waste the little time we have
for improvement on the wrong stuff!
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OK, but a good vision
alone is not enough
 1961 vision
But there are many ways to send a man to the moon!!
 1962 Lunar Orbit Rendezvous was chosen (big debate and not first choice)
 1966 Apollo 1 first unmanned
 1968 Apollo 7 first manned
 1969 may Apollo 10 training 15 km from surface
 1969 July Apollo 11 Touchdown! That's one small step for (a) man, one giant
leap for mankind
Target
condition
Challenge Vision
2. A direction which is
understandable
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Why is it important to know where we are ?
 If we do not have a common starting point we will not know or have
the same obstacles ahead of us.
 Builds motivation to change.
 Gets feedback that we actually have changed.
 Important to base it on actual facts and reality and not what we think!
3. Where are we
If you ask different persons about their
current condition you will be surprised of
their different views.
Joakim thinks
Anna thinks
Pia thinks
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Good. Can we get going now? (action plan)
We know where we are and where we are going!
Typical Action Plan
Well, not quite...
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The Dice Exercise
- Question 1 -
 I will roll a dice 3 times
 The sum will be between 3 and 18
Before I roll, write down what will be the sum of the three rolls.
Exercise by Mike Rother
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If you wrote the wrong sum
How do you feel ?
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Not so bad,
it’s just chance
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- Question 2 -
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ?
What will be the next number in this series ?
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Question 2
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 2
Those who wrote the wrong number ...
How do you feel this time?
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Hey!
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How are these
two scenarios different?
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What’s different between the scenarios?
How simple or hard it is to spot the knowledge threshold!
 In round 1 with the dice it was simple to see that we didn’t know the result.
 In round 2 it was harder to see the knowledge threshold. We thought we knew
the answer, so we just went past the threshold and answered !!
But in both situations the knowledge threshold was the same. We
had no more facts beyond what we knew.
 What would have been a good answer in both scenarios?
 Why don’t we say that?
Current
knowledge threshold
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12,
Known territory
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 But when we don’t see it we’d rather carry on with action plans,
voting, pick-charts … instead of testing, learning and adapting.
The trouble ain't what people don't know, it's what they know that
ain't so (Josh Billings)
There is always a knowledge threshold
Effect
Cost/effort
Action plan PICK-chart Voting
Actions plans decide in advance how we should get there …
even though we don’t know.
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And thinking you know how to get there
in advance is just waste!
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The knowledge threshold is where we start guessing.
You have to admit it to be able to see it (I don’t know).
We can go further by experimenting in small steps.
We do not know what the result will be.
This is where our learning starts!
You can’t just
implement, because
situations change!
4. We need a dynamic way
of getting there
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That’s exactly what the improvement Kata is
1. A clear and relevant direction
for our improvements.
2. A direction which is
understandable
3. Where are we
4. We need a dynamic way
of getting there
Summary
1 2 3 4
Understand the
direction
Grasp current
condition
Establish next
target condition
Experiment towards target
condition
CC
TC
Target
condition
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Great, lets go !!
 We know where we are going
 We know where we are
 We know how to navigate and
adapt on the way there
1 2 3 4
Understand the
direction
Grasp current
condition
Establish next
target condition
Experiment towards target
condition
CC
TC
Target
condition
But wait, there’s a problem…
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What’s needed
in order to change?
A simple example
 Sign your name 5 times normally
 Start when I say go
 When you are finished raise your hand
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Let’s try just a small change
That was easy, now let’s do a very small change!
 Change hand to non-dominant
 Write it 5 times again
 Start when we say go
 Raise your hand when you are finished
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How did it feel?
 Different
 Difficult
 Weird
 Uncomfortable
WHY??
 You were outside your comfort zone
with your non-dominant hand
 You have a well established mental
habit of using your dominant hand
 It is so trained it is automatic,
comfortable and normal
 You need very little mental energy
to do it
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How humans learn skills & change:
Findings from brain research
On Next
Page
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So we have a dilemma
We want to create a systematic habit where we daily improve in
an unknown territory in order to achieve our challenges, i.e. apply
the Improvement Kata!
 But our brain follows our regular tracks (fast on solution, action
plans, just do, 5 who…), it prefers current neural pathways where
less energy is needed.
 We want to create new habits where we are comfortable working
with the Improvement Kata, i.e. we have to create new neural
pathways.
Every time you do
something, you are
more likely to do it
again.
- Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Unknown learning territory
Next
target
condition
Current
condition
We need to create a habit of using the
Improvement Kata here
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A solution is deliberate practice !
 By consciously practicing the practice routines of the Improvement Kata we can
create new habits.
 When you have learned to drive a car you stop thinking about the routines of
shifting gears, braking … instead you focus on what is happening on the road. But
if we try driving a British left-hand we’re almost back on square one!!
 So Kata are practice routines for a way of thinking and acting. It is possible to learn
and use. It will increase your capability and in the end be a comfortable habit!!
By practicing kata you
can change and improve
your company culture
“We are all much more likely to act our way into a new way of thinking,
than to think our way into a new way of acting.” (Richard Pascale, 1990)
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Correct practice
creates the right habit but …
 The person who practices (Learner) the Improvement Kata
routines can accidentally just practice their old habits.
 A Coach is needed who corrects and supports to ensure that
the Learner continues to practice the right routine in the right
way.
 The Coaching Kata is a routine for teaching the Improvement
Kata pattern
 The Coaching Kata gives the Leader a standardized way of
developing peoples capabilities to work with challenge driven
improvements.
When combined, the Improvement Kata and
Coaching Kata become a way to manage!
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Daily coaching cycles
Improvement
Kata
The Improvement Kata
pattern is learned
through coaching in actual work
Coach Learner
Understand the
direction
Grasp Current
Condition
Establish next
Target Condition
Experiment towards Target
Condition
CC
TC
Target
condition
Toyota Kata
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Improvement
Kata
Coaching
Kata
Toyota Kata
Understand
direction
Grasp
Current
Condition
Establish
next Target
Condition
Experiment towards Target
Condition
Deploy Daily coaching cycles
CC
TC
Target
condition
LEARNER
COACH
Instruct / coach
Learner’s
board
The video on the next page gives you an
example of a “Coaching Cycle” in Swedish
Our best wishes for your practice
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