"Learning to Lead at Toyota"
Harvard Business Review
May 2004, pp. 78-86
In an article written five years ago, the author and Kent Bowen argued that the real strength of the Toyota Production System lies in the application of underlying principles, rather than in the use of various tools and processes. These underlying principles result in a system of nested experiments that lead to continuous improvement.
This article provides a case study that illustrates how Toyota trained an American whom it had selected for the position of plant manager. The four underlying lessons of the new plant manager's training were as follows:
- There is no substitute for direct observation—Throughout the new manager's training, "he was required to watch employees work and machines operate. He was not asked to 'figure out' why a machine failed, as if he were a detective solving a crime already committed, but to sit and wait until he could directly observe its failure."
- Proposed changes should always be structured as experiments—This approach sought to fully understand both the problem and the solution.
- Workers and managers should experiment as frequently as possible—The focus is on multiple quick, simple experiments instead of on ones that are complicated and take place over a long period of time.
- Managers should coach, not fix—The new manager was trained more in understanding what employees need in order to solve problems, rather than the manager solving them himself. He was trained to facilitate the learning experiences of all employees.
Overall, the new manager's training involved 12 intensive weeks in Toyota's U.S. engine plant, as well as ten days in the plants of Toyota and its suppliers in Japan.
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