The routines of the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata teach scientific thinking & acting, and can be practiced any time you face a problem, goal or challenge. We often have a fundamental misunderstanding of what Lean is in practice. We mistake Lean solutions for the process that leads to the results. Instead, Kata gets into how to develop the less visible but essential scientific thinking that underlies Lean practices and the Lean results that we see. The reality is that very little that you see at a Toyota site is the result of one person with a big idea that got standardized across locations. More often, what you see is today’s condition, which is the result of many cycles of experimentation aimed at a particular goal and challenge. Kata is about the road to developing your own solutions, again and again! The Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata are a management system that coaches people for continuous improvement and achieving ambitious goals in all aspects of an organization.

1. How Does KATA Fit in Our
Improvement Process?
By
Mike Rother
and Jeff Liker
November 2014

2. It's About
Developing
Scientific
Thinking!
Rother & Liker - November 2014 2

3. SOME PEOPLE IN THE LEAN COMMUNITY
ARE WONDERING WHERE KATA FITS IN
• Is it a more advanced problem solving
method to go beyond A3?
• Does it replace daily huddles to address
yesterday’s problems?
• Should we stop all “Lean” activity to focus
only on the Improvement Kata and
Coaching Kata?
• What do we do about the momentum we
have gained through Lean tools?
Rother & Liker - November 2014 3

4. MANY OF US WERE FIRST EXPOSED
TO LEAN THROUGH THE TPS HOUSE
It's a great image that makes us want
to "Just Do It" right now!
Rother & Liker - November 2014 4

5. HERE'S A MORE RECENT IMAGE
OF THE TOYOTA WAY
It provides a vision for Toyota's culture
and makes us think about the culture we desire
Rother & Liker - November 2014 5

6. BUT THESE VIEWS MISS SOMETHING
Scientific way
of thinking
Scientific way
of thinking
Underlying Toyota's approach/system is
a scientific way of thinking, which Toyota
strives to develop in its members
Rother & Liker - November 2014 6

7. CULTURE DEVELOPMENT STARTS
ON DAY 1
Scientific thinking should get practiced in all your
improvement efforts... whether trying to maintain
a current standard or striving to reach a new one...
and whether carried out by a beginner or an expert.
Developing this foundational
thinking is exactly what
practicing the Improvement Kata
and Coaching Kata is about.
Rother & Liker - November 2014 7

8. THINKING CORRECTLY ABOUT
THE IMPROVEMENT KATA
One misconception is that some people think of IK/CK as a process
improvement tool, rather than a set of practice routines for learning
how to approach problems, goals and challenges scientifically.
A second misconception involves distinguishing too sharply
between a reactive mode of identifying deviations from standard
versus a proactive mode of striving for a goal. We found that the
mindset pattern at Toyota (modeled by the Improvement Kata) is
essentially the same whether an existing standard or a new level of
performance are being pursued. Of course, the application of that
mindset pattern takes on different shadings in different situations.
A third misconception is that IK/CK is only for mature sites that
already have established systems for maintaining standards (i.e.,
stable processes) and initiatives like problem-solving and shop floor
management. Actually, at Toyota you begin practicing and applying
the scientific mindset modeled by the Improvement Kata the day
you arrive. In fact, it's unlikely that you can become a mature site
without practicing scientific thinking.
Rother & Liker - November 2014 8

9. KATA COME INTO PLAY EARLY ON
Kata are structured routines you practice deliberately,
especially at the beginning, so their pattern becomes
a habit and leaves you with new abilities
KATA:
• Are typically for learning
fundamentals, to build on.
• Are a way of transferring skills and
developing shared abilities and
mindset in a team or organization.
“Let’s begin by
practicing it
this way for a
while.”
Rother & Liker - November 2014 9

10. DAILY MANAGEMENT GENERATES IDEAS
We are finally
engaging team
members in
daily huddles.
Team
members are
making great
suggestions!
We have
standards and
deviations are
noticed!
Unfortunately, these
actions alone often lead
to the unscientific 'action-item-
list' approach
Rother & Liker - November 2014 10

11. COUNTERMEASURE: PUT SOME KATA IN IT
It's fine to begin with systems for trying to maintain
standards by reacting to abnormalities. However, these
activities should be undertaken in a way that incorporates a
scientific thinking pattern. It's a good idea to think of any
standard as a goal, and to pursue it scientifically with the
routines of the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata.
Unscientific responses
to abnormalities
Scientific responses
to abnormalities
Illustration from Toyota Kata, page 115
Rother & Liker - November 2014 11

12. SCIENTIFIC THINKING IS
A FOUNDATIONAL SKILL
Practice the structured
routines of the
Improvement Kata
pattern...
And get
better at...
• Handling
deviations from
a standard
• Using the A3
• Heijunka
• Respect for
people
• And so on
Rother & Liker - November 2014 12

13. EXAMPLE: THE A3
The thinking pattern that Toyota wants is taught by
their seasoned coaches, not by the A3 format itself
Rother & Liker - November 2014
A lesson learned in the
Toyota Kata research is that
A3 is a Toyota tool that's used
there in the context of
corrective coaching by an
experienced mentor.
When A3 gets used in other
organizations without this
underlying component, the
probability of A3 developing
systematic, scientific thinking
& acting is low.
The A3 Tool
The desired pattern
of thinking & acting
is here
Experienced
Mentor
At Toyota
13

14. RESEARCHERS WHO BENCHMARK VISIBLE
TOYOTA TECHNIQUES MISS A KEY INGREDIENT
The A3 document and associated coaching is a Toyota
technique that helps managers teach a scientific pattern
of thinking. What's important from a tech-transfer point
of view is the pattern of thinking (modeled by the
Improvement Kata), which is held in the coaches at Toyota.
Rother & Liker - November 2014
14

15. HOW DO YOU DEVELOP
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS?
Both the A3 as it is used at Toyota and the Improvement
Kata / Coaching Kata (IK/CK) are aimed at the same
purpose: Developing scientific thinking skills (clarity of
objective, conducting experiments, striving based on facts
and data).
But the A3 alone is more of a summary of a problem-solving
process. If used correctly, the Learner is going through it
with coaching, and hence practice, at every step. The A3
requires a high level of coaching skill. (Read Managing to
Learn by John Shook.)
The practice routines of the Improvement Kata & Coaching
Kata make this Coach/Learner process more explicit and
transferrable. The purpose of the IK & CK is to simplify and
systematize the kind of practice that’s more implicit in
Toyota's already-strong culture of scientific thinking.
Rother & Liker - November 2014
15

16. BEGINNERS NEED PRACTICE ROUTINES
Abstract knowledge doesn't produce change when it's not tied
to specific behaviors that can be practiced. Change involves
creating small tweaks to behavior that build on one another.
Quote from a businessperson: "The biggest challenge I have is to get
people to DO. They read books, articles, SlideShares, watch YouTube
videos and "talk a good game," but they don't practice. They have
difficulty making the connection between thinking and doing."
Rother & Liker - November 2014
16

17. A VIDEO ABOUT PRACTICE
Next page - 4 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAQ8oJIGoA
Also available on the IK/CK YouTube Channel
Rother & Liker - November 2014 17

18. The Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata are structured
teaching routines to shift underlying thought patterns.
The idea is that as the scientific way of thinking becomes
more habitual, an organization can move in the direction
of a “This is just how we think and do things" culture.
Getting practice of the Improvement Kata pattern
established inside various activities is an early target
condition for culture change.
The Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata routines are
for organizations that don't think and act scientifically by
default, but want to learn to do so.
Best wishes for your practice!