improvement kata mindset · © mike rother toyota kata 4 a familiar illusion part 1 the power of...

© Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA 1

This document and its contents are Copyright © 2013 by Mike Rother, all rights reserved1217 Baldwin Avenue / Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA / tel: (734) 665-5411 / [email protected]

Improvement Kata MindsetGet better at achieving goals and meeting

challenges by teaching the creative process

by Mike Rother2013

24.1NextTarget ConditionTarget

Condition

CurrentCondition

Illustration by Dr. Lutz Engel


I want to propose that this is something middle managers should spend more time on

WHAT IʼD LIKE TO FOCUS ON TODAY

Lean solutions (tools, techniques and principles) to improve quality, cost, delivery

• A systematic, scientific routine of thinking & acting

• Middle managers asteachers of that routine

Visible

LessVisible


uv

Learner(Mentee)

Responsible for the process

Coach(Mentor)

Supervisoror manager

Process

Applies the Improvement Kata

Teachesthe IK

BEFORE WE GET STARTED - Quick Overview

The Improvement Kata

Coaching Kata

The Improvement Kata models the human, scientific creative process and makes it something that's teachable and transferrable in any organization.

5 Questions


A FAMILIAR ILLUSION

Part 1 The Power of Habits


HEREʼS ANOTHER FAMILIAR ILLUSION

We may know how a kanban system works

But we donʼt know what will make your kanban system work

VisibleAspect

LessVisibleAspect

Once we assume we know, we stop experimenting!Which of these aspects is the Lean community teaching?What mindset is the Lean community creating?

Important and necessary, but...


WE LIKE TO BE CERTAIN IN OUR VIEWThatʼs the way our brain is wired

“Declarations of high confidence mainly tell you that an individual has constructed a coherent story in his mind, not necessarily that the story is true.”

~ Daniel KahnemanThinking Fast and Slow

But once we think we know, we set a course and go, rather than testing, learning and adapting. Thatʼs where trouble begins.


WHAT IS METACOGNITION?


METACOGNITION =Thinking about how you think

i.e., analyzing your own cognitive processes

Unlike most animals, humans have the abilityto be aware of their thinking and can influence it


A QUICK EXPERIMENTTake a moment... please cross your arms.

Then re-cross them the other way.


QUICK EXPERIMENTPlease clasp your hands.

Then clasp them the other way.


In each case, how did it feel the second time compared to the first?

For most of us the other way feels odd.You have to consciously think about it and be more deliberate.


UnconsciousThinking

DeliberateThinking

Our brain creates habits for efficiency; to free up capacity for when deliberate decision making is necessary. Unconscious thinking enables you to get through the day by taking care of routine decisions with minimum fuss.

Unconscious thinking is fast and instinctive, while deliberate thinking is slow and intentional.

OUR UNCONSCIOUS HABITS ARE FAST & POWERFUL

The subconscious is powerful because it can processbillions of bits of information per second, while ourdeliberate mind can only process a few thousand per second.


Habits are behaviors that have been repeated regularly and occur unconsciously. The repeated behavior develops neural pathways in the brain, making the behavior easier to complete.

Much of what happens in an organization is a consequence of the habits that people in the organization have learned through practice, whether deliberately or by happenstance.

MUCH OF WHAT WE DO IS HABITUALLike crossing our arms, performed almost without thinking

However, a pitfall of many habits is that the past experiences that created them do not necessarily represent future situations


What would happen if you practicedfolding your arms the other way every day?

It would become normal; something you can do without thinking about it.

You just did a bit of metacognition!


UnconsciousThinking

DeliberatePractice

develops

We may think that all skill is innate -- that you are either born with it or not -- but thatʼs not 100% correct.You can rewire your thinking and habits by deliberately (consciously) practicing a targeted behavior pattern.Once the pattern youʼre practicing enters your unconscious it gets smoother and faster and becomes the normal, habitual way you operate.

WE CAN CHANGE OUR AUTOPILOTHumans have the ability to deliberately develop new habits!

Thatʼs what the Improvement Kata & Coaching Kata are about.

You can change the culture of an organization,and even an entire society, this way.


Through practicing, the pattern of a katabecomes second nature - done with littleconscious attention - and readily available.

Examples include riding a bicycle, driving acar, typing. Once youʼve learned to drive you donʼt think much about using the carʼs controls and can focus your attention on the situational aspects of navigating the road.

WHAT IS A KATA?A kata is a routine you practice deliberately so its pattern becomes a habit

Part 2 The Improvement Kata


YOUR ORGANIZATIONʼS CULTURE PERPETUATES ITSELF EVERY DAY

Team or Organizational

CultureRoutines

HabitsRitualsNorms

Mindsetand

behavior

Teaches

This is automatic,unconscious

daily practicing


KATA CREATES NEW CULTURE


CultureRoutines

HabitsRitualsNorms

Mindsetand

behavior

Teaches

This is automatic,unconscious

daily practicing

Practicingspecific

newbehaviors

Affects

This is deliberate,conscious

daily practicing

KATAIs Used

Here


HEREʼS THE COOL THINGWe now have kata -- a repeatable routine -- for teaching

and coaching this part

Lean solutions (tools, techniques and principles) to improve quality, cost, delivery

• A systematic, scientific routine of thinking & acting

• Managers as teachersof that routine

Visible

LessVisible


A DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT

The systematic pursuit of desired conditionsby utilizing human capabilities

in a concerted way

We want to be here

nextWe are

here

Currentcondition

Desired condition

TargetconditionChallenge


LEADERS & MANAGERS ARE TEACHERS, ANDTHEIR ACTIONS DETERMINE COMPANY CAPABILITY

Whether consciously or not, with their everyday words and actions all leaders and managers are teaching their people a mindset and approach.

So it makes sense to ask: “What patterns of behavior and thought do we want our managers to be teaching in our organization?”


Here the manager automaticallyteaches the prevailing culture

Here the manageris a coach who deliberately teachesa new way

DELIBERATE versus AUTOMATIC TEACHING

Mindsetand

behavior

TeachesAffectsPracticingspecific

newbehaviors


CultureRoutines

HabitsRitualsNorms

KATAIs Used

Here


Practice Pattern 1: THE IMPROVEMENT KATAThis is the fundamental pattern.

The Improvement Kata is about striving toward a goalin a systematic, scientific way.

Practicing the Improvement Kata develops mastery of improvement, adaptiveness and innovation

Establish the Next Target Condition

TargetCondition

PDCA Toward the Target Condition

The 5 Questions

GoandSee

PLAN

CHECK DO

ACT

C C

T C

Grasp the Current

Condition

Understandthe

Direction

321 4Where do you want to go?

Then iterateto get there


1 In consideration of a vision and challenge...2 Grasp the current condition.3 Define the next target condition.4 Move toward that target condition with PDCA, which

uncovers obstacles that need to be worked on.

Visionand

ChallengeCurrent

Condition TargetCondition

NextObstacles

ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK ATTHE IMPROVEMENT KATA

2 3 14


Practice Pattern 2: THE COACHING KATAThis is a pattern for teaching the Improvement Kata

The Coaching Kata is a set of coaching routines to practice in order to develop effective coaching habits. It's a coaching pattern to help you teach the Improvement Kata thinking pattern.

The Coaching Kata gives managers and supervisors a standardized approach to facilitate Improvement Kata skill development in daily work.

The manager / coach needs to know boththe Improvement Kata and the Coaching Kata!


LearnerʼsStoryboard

Process

Learner(Mentee)

Team

Manager(Coach or Mentor)

CoachingKata

ImprovementKata

THE TWO PRIMARY ROLESIN PRACTICING & TEACHING

The coachʼs focus is giving procedural guidance to develop learnerʼs Improvement Kata skill

The learnerʼs focus is applying the Improvement Kata to an objective

uv


DEVELOPING A META HABIT THROUGH PRACTICEWHAT youʼre working on: The focus process provides the content.

HOW youʼre working: The Improvement Kata provides the form.

. . ... .. . . .

. ..CurrentCondition

TargetCondition

Unclear Territory

Obstacles

Coaching Cycles

with the 5 Questions

5Q 5Q 5Q 5Q 5Q5Q5Q 5Q 5Q 5Q5Q 5Q 5Q

The pattern of thinking and acting (the kata) stays the same and repeats.This is the habit, the HOW, the Coach is teaching.Coach

Learner

The content and obstacles the Learner works on are situational and will vary.


THE COACHʼS TASK: FOCUS ON THE HOWThe task is to determine whether or not the learner is practicing within the corridor of thinking and acting specified by the Improvement Kata, and to introduce procedural course corrections as necessary.

When the learner gets outside the Improvement Kata corridor the potential for learning (for increasing the learnerʼs IK skill) is great. In this case you can either provide a procedural input now, or allow a small failure to occur and then provide the input.

Or here?

Is the learner

practicinghere?

Corridor ofImprovement Kata

way of thinking & acting


CORRECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECTThe learner will naturally default back to his or her existing ways of thinking and acting.The coach introduces corrections to ensure that the learner practices the right pattern the right way.

Or here?

Photos from “The Karate Kid,” 1984


THE INTENTION IS NOTAUDIT AND COMPLIANCE

Itʼs this... ...not this

Teaching the learner how to playthe sytematic and scientific

continuous improvement game


SEE - Try to understand how the learner is thinking(Coach is in an observing / questioning mode)COMPARE - Compare this to the desired pattern -- “the corridor” -- specified by the Improvement Kata(Coach is in a judging mode)INSTRUCT - Introduce a course adjustment if necessary(Coach is in an instructing or guiding mode)

12

3

ITʼS A “SEE-COMPARE-INSTRUCT”PATTERN OF TEACHING


FOUR KEY POINTS SO FAR

1. We operate on habits.

2. We can change our habits through deliberate practice.

3. There is a pattern we can practice to get better at meeting challenging goals. We call it the Improvement Kata, which has four steps.

4. Managers are the coaches / teachersfor that pattern.


...copied at a U.S. companyA solution at Toyota...

HOW HAVE WE BEEN MANAGING?Leaders and managers have tended to focus on outcomes and solutions

Focusing on outcomes is a kind of implementation orientation, which assumes the path to the desired condition is relatively clear. With that thinking, managementʼs task is:

• Establish targets• Maybe describe some solutions or tools• Provide incentives to get it done• Periodically check results

“Management by Results”

Part 3 A Different Way of Managing


Incentive: Group B is told they will receive a cash bonus if they solve the problem faster than the average of persons in Group A.

BUT HOW WELLDOES FOCUSING ON OUTCOMES WORK?

The Candle ProblemFind a way to attach the candle to the wall so wax will not drip on the floor

Solution

Experiments by psychologists Kark Dunker and Sam Glucksberg

Box of tacks


Result? The members of Group B (the group with the incentive) take three and a half minutes longer on average to solve the problem.

THE SOLUTION AND THE RESULT

Find a way to attach the candle to the wall so wax will not drip on the floor

SolutionProblem as presented


ROUND TWO

Result? When the candle problem is presented this simpler way, the members of Group B (the group with the incentive) do complete the task faster than the average in Group A.

Now four separate items

Find a way to attach the candle to the wall so wax will not drip on the floor

Problem as presentedSolution


Solution difficult to seeSolution easy to see

Behavioral scientists have shown repeatedly that extrinsic motivators work for tasks where the path is clear, but not for challenging problems that require creativity and adaptiveness (ingenuity) to solve.

FOCUSING ON OUTCOMES WORKSWHEN THE PATH IS CLEAR

Challenges where the path is unclearare increasingly common


We need tomake plans...

KEY POINTThe implementation-oriented management approach

is not well suited to meeting challenges

TargetCondition

Predictable Zone

Plan & ROI calculationsare made hereOperating based on what we see and think today

Learning Zone

...but we canʼt know in advance what all the steps will be that will get us to a challenging target condition.

When you take steps forward you discover things that were not apparent back when we were calculating and planning

CurrentKnowledgeThreshold

Obstacles

Unclear

Territory

? ?

?We want to

be here next


EXAMPLE OF IMPLEMENTATION ORIENTATIONAction-Item Lists

Such lists and plans= deciding in advancehow we will get there.

Yet the situation changesas we move forward!

So we are not experimenting and learning.

This is not an effective way of tapping our ingenuity!


“Management by Means”

A DIFFERENT WAY OF MANAGINGThere may be only 3 things we can and need to know with certainty!

(1) Where we are(2) Where we want to be next(3) By what means we should navigate the

unclear territory between here and there.

We want to behere

We are here

Unclear Territory

This is a grey zone!

planis

Obstacles

madehere


THE IK & CK ARE ABOUT TAPPING, MOBILIZING& CHANNELING INGENUITY IN AN ORGANIZATION

Ingenuity= Creating a way of doing something that we want but cannot yet do.

The challenge can be anything, big or small:q An assembly operator and team leader want to

find a way to drive screws without cross-threading q We want to operate an assembly cell with four

instead of six operators (at the same output)q We want to injection mold parts in lot sizes that

are 50% smallerq We want to develop an electric car that goes

250 miles on a single charge

The approach is the same in each case.The feeling is the same in each case.

KEYPOINT!


MORE KEY POINTS

1. The path forward canʼt be 100% predicted.

2. We tend to manage by pre-defining the path to a goal.

3. Navigating the grey zone takes a different way of managing.


ProcessesProductsServices

PeopleʼsMINDSET

BUSINESS OUTCOMES

PeopleʼsBEHAVIOR PATTERNS

WHERE DO AN ORGANIZATIONʼSSOLUTIONS COME FROM?

Part 4 The Role of Mindset


WHAT IS MINDSET?

MindsetA subconscious, habitual way of thinking and feeling, learned via successes and failures

A lens through whichwe view the world

Determines how we interpret and respond to situations

Two Points:

• Mindset is the basis of organizational culture

• If you want to change your organizationʼsculture youʼll have to change mindsets

BehaviorPatterns


LETʼS LOOK AT TWO MINDSETS


Mindset 1: A FIXED MINDSET *We derive a lot of our sense of security and confidence from certainty, and tend to seek it.The way the adult brain functions, we naturally strive to operate in what I call a Zone of Apparent Certainty, where things are as expected, rational, calculable, logical, familiar, risk free & certain.With this mindset: • We expect that things will go as planned

• We feel we have control and can predict

Comfortarea

ApparentCertainty

Mystery

Uncertainty

Inside your current knowledge threshold

*Terminology by Carol Dweck, Mindset (Random House, 2006)

And many things should be as certain as possible!Like the beam holding up the roof, or serving the customer.

ImplementationLike the candle problem with the tacks outside the box


BUT TRYING TO MAKE EVERYTHINGCERTAIN IS DANGEROUS

Here are three reasons...


Canʼt see allthe way there

#1: WHAT IS AHEAD OF USISNʼT CERTAIN

We can see only part way down the path to a challenging goal


fMRI Scans of brain activity by Dr. Gerald HütherPresented at Production Systems 2009 Conference, Munich, May 2009

#2: THE SPECIAL CAPABILITIES OF OUR BRAINGET ENGAGED WHEN WE DONʼT KNOW

Our human capability to learn is often latent; it has to be activated

This brain is actively engaged in wiring circuits

fMRI brain scan of a person in aChallenging

Situation

fMRI brain scan of a person in a

Predictable Situation

This brain is coasting on memory it already has (which uses less energy)


Prediction

Confirmed

ErrorSurprise. Potential for new knowledge, learning & discovery.

Strengthenscurrent thinking.Like re-walking apath in the snow.

Prediction confirmation keeps you in place. Prediction error leads you out of your assumptions and forces exploration.This is because prediction error reveals a knowledge threshold.

#3: UNEXPECTED RESULTS HELP YOU PROGRESSThe scientific approach: When a result is as-predicted it

confirms something you already thought. When a result isdifferent than predicted you are about to learn something new.


A THRESHOLD OF KNOWLEDGEIS A LEARNING EDGE

To reach new levels of performance a knowledge threshold has to be there

Two points about knowledge thresholds:1) You have to acknowledge them to see them.2) You see further by experimenting, not conjecture.


Mindset 2: AN ADAPTIVE MINDSETWith this mindset you learn to operate in two zones simultaneously:

The Zone of Apparent Certainty + the Zone of Uncertainty

In the Zone of Uncertainty:• There is a dilemma: We want to make the best possible plan,

but the optimum path will only be known in hindsight• There are unanticipated obstacles• You acquire/increase your knowledge as you go

Expanded comfortarea

1

2Learning Zone“Ingenuity” “Discovery”Like the candle problem with the tacks in the box

ApparentCertainty

Mystery

Uncertainty

Inside your current knowledge threshold

Outside your current knowledge threshold


HOW DO YOU CHANGE OR DEVELOP MINDSET?(and the organizational culture)

Psychology and brain research: Mindset can be changed.Our thinking and skills are more transformable than we thought. The brain has plasticity.

Part 5 Changing Our Mindset

Here’s

how it

works


Dendrites (receiver)CellBody

Axon (sender)

The human brain is estimated to contain 80-100 billion neurons, and thousands of synapses per neuron. Clusters of neurons form circuits within the brain, which underlie perception and thought.For communication between neurons to take place, an electrical impulse travels down an axon to a synapse, or gap, where transmission occurs.

MINDSET = NEURAL PATHWAYS OR CIRCUITS

80,000,000,000 neurons X 10,000 synapses = 800,000,000,000,000 Connections


TrainedSynapse

Low resistance

Both the strength of connection between neurons (ease of impulse transmission) and the number of connections increase with use. Whatever you focus on and practice - with associated emotions - weaves a habit or pattern into your thinking. (Emotion helps determine what to imprint.)

MINDSET IS PHYSIOLOGICAL!The synaptic gap is what allows plasticity. The way neurons

function equips us for learning new patterns and habits.

Neurons that fire together wire together.

- Carla Shatz

Every time you do something, you are more likely to do it again.

- Alvaro Pascual-Leone

UntrainedSynapse

High resistance


Because untrained synapses require more energy to fire andmaintain, the brain ʻprefersʼ to use already-trained synapses.

YOUR BRAIN IS TRYING TO CONSERVE ENERGYThe 3-pound brain consumes 20% of the bodyʼs energy

TrainedSynapse

Uses less energy

Implementing

GreenZone

UntrainedSynapse

Uses more energy

Innovating

YellowZone

The brain learns toprefer whatever wefocus on repeatedly.

As this information grows stronger through repetition it becomes wired in the brain and solidifies thinking and behaviors.

Due to these preferred pathways in the brain, youʼre led by your brain to use them again and again, which strengthens them even more. This is how your organization's culture perpetuates itself.

You have to see this to understand why we think and actthe way we do, and what it will take to make change happen


SO ORGANIZATIONS ARE FACEDWITH A DILEMMA

(A) Our brain favors existing neural pathways (comfort area)We naturally and reflexively prefer routine, familiar activity in the apparent certainty zone. It uses existing neural circuits, which require less energy. Our brain likes to focus on familiar patterns.

(B) Meeting challenges - improving and adapting - means buildingnew neural pathways (learning area)Itʼs impossible to remove uncertainty from the process of improvement, adaptation and creation. The way forward lies outside our current knowledge threshold, and pursuing it activates new neural circuits that initially consume more energy.

We want to behere

We are here

Unclear Territory

Obstacles

How do we get more comfortable & skillful with this uncertainty zone?!


The trick is to develop well-worn mental circuits not for solutions,but for a means of developing solutions along uncertain paths.This is like training in sports: To prepare for contests with unpredictable solutions, the focus of the training is not solutions,but practicing how to play.

A SOLUTION TO THE DILEMMAHow can we be creative and effective in dynamic conditions

if we tend to automatically apply old solutions to new situations?

Thatʼs exactly what the Improvement Kata is

People can handle uncertainty, work iteratively, adjust and adapt......if they have practiced and mastered a way of doing that.


MORE KEY POINTS

1. Mindset is the basis of our behavior and an organizationʼs culture.

2. Our mindset can be changed!

3. A task in improvement, adaptation and innovation is to develop habitual mental circuits that are effective for navigating grey zones... by practicing a scientific routine like the Improvement Kata everyday under coaching guidance.


THE IMPROVEMENT KATA GIVES US SOMETHINGTO HANG ON TO IN THE UNCERTAINTY ZONEItʼs a kind of security blanket for the unpredictable zone

The Improvement Kata gives us a way of having more confidence while navigating unclear territory. “Iʼve never done that before, but I know how to figure it out and find the way.” It helps us experience uncertainty more as an opportunity.

Part 6 Conclusion


NextTarget ConditionTarget

Condition

CurrentCondition

Illustration by Dr. Lutz Engel

The more people in an organizationwho get to higher skill levels with the Improvement Kata pattern:• The more challenges the organization

can take on• The bigger the challenges it can take on• The more knowledge it can build• The faster it can move ahead

INCREASING YOUR ORGANIZATIONʼS CAPABILITYPracticing the Improvement Kata = expanding peopleʼs comfort zone

ApparentCertainty

Mystery

Uncertainty

Comfortarea


ONE CONCLUSION IS BECOMING CLEARWeʼre not going to be successful by copying Toyotaʼs solutions

We should be copying how Toyota develops solutions.(Which is a universal, not Toyota-specific, science-based approach.)

The Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata are practice routines for teaching and transferring that approach.

Once you develop proficiency with the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata you can evolve them into kata that suit your organization.


ANOTHER CONCLUSIONIf we only periodically conduct training events or only episodically work on improvement -- and the rest of the time itʼs business as usual -- then according to neuroscience what weʼre actually teaching is business as usual.

If we want a Lean revolution, then we need to shift emphasis from staff-led, episodic improvement efforts, to daily efforts led by middle managers.

A slice of each day should be focused on iterating toward the next target condition by applying & coaching your improvement kata.

The Workday


WHERE DO YOU & YOUR TEAM WANT TO BE NEXT?What challenges are you trying to meet,and whatʼs your kata for getting there?

We want to behere

We are here

Unclear Territory

Obstacles


FOR MORE INFORMATIONVisit the Toyota Kata Website

improvement kata mindset · © mike rother toyota kata 4 a familiar illusion part 1 the power of...

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