my toyota kata teaching approach phase 1: clarify your ... · two columns of the storyboard. •...

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My Toyota Kata Teaching Approach

Phase 1: Clarify Your Thinking Version: 19 April 2020

© emielvanest.nl

Title: Improver: Coach:

Now we are here. Here we want to go. What must we do?Date: Date:

Actions / Experiments

Current results Needed Results / Target

Current Condition Target Condition Obstacles

Understand the Direction. What is the challenge?

What has to change?

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Open question: Improver: Coach:

What is your next step? What do you expect? What actually happened? What did you learn?

Experiment

Exp

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Title: Improver:

Open question Logic behind the question

What must we do?

Coach:

Title: Improver:

Now we are here. Here we want to go.Date: Date:


Current Condition Target Condition


What has to change?

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Coach:

2nd Coach(Manager)

Coach(Manager)

Improver(Team leader)



Coach(Manager)


Team Team Team Team

My Toyota Kata Teaching Approach

Phase 1: Clarify Your Thinking Phase 2: Find First Answers

Phase 3: Engage Others

Focus of this document

Questions? [email protected]

© emielvanest.nl

Phase 1: Clarify Your Thinking

• Phase 1 is to familiarize yourself with the thinking pattern called the Improvement Kata.

• This customized Toyota Kata Storyboard is the simplest way I have found so far to start practicing this thinking pattern.







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Focus of this document

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler”

Albert Einstein

© emielvanest.nl

Just one form to start practicing the Improvement Kata







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1 Understand the Direction

2 Grasp the

Current Condition

3 Establish the

Target Condition

Target

Condition

4 Experiment

towards Target Condition

CC

TC

?!

© emielvanest.nl

Understand the Direction

• The simplest way to think about direction is to have clarity about the result, the outcome you want to change.

• What is your current result?

– Noun + number.

• What is the result that you aspire?

– Same noun + different number.

• By what date?


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Grasp the Current Condition

• The simplest way to think about conditions is as the collection of characteristics that causes the result.

• Filling out this part requires some practice.

• Why is the current result as it is?

• What are the knobs and levers that influence the result?

• What is the current position (value) of these knobs and levers?

• If you do not know how to get started you can always ask the sabotage question:

– If you wanted to destroy the current result what would you do?

– The sabotage question usually gets people going!

2 Grasp the Current

Condition

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Establish the Target Condition

• In my approach I just mirror the current condition to the target condition.

• Since the current result and the desired result have the same noun; the knobs and levers that influence this result are the same.

• The knobs and levers just need a different position (value) to change the result.

• Some people find it easier to start with the Target Condition instead of the Current Condition. That is fine with me!

– Just mirror back to work on the current condition later.

3 Establish the

Target Condition

Target

Condition

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Establish the Target Condition

• What knobs and levers are forbidden to change, either by law or ethics?

• What knobs and levers don’t you want to change? Why?

• Which knobs and levers are available to change the result?

• What position do these knobs and levers need, to get the desired result?

3 Establish the

Target Condition

Target

Condition

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Experiment towards Target Condition

• In Phase 1 we do not experiment too much yet. First we need to build a coherent story in the first two columns of the Storyboard.

• As you can see in Phase 2 the green column of the Storyboard gets split over 2 different forms. But that is for later.

• Now lets focus on two different topics that may already be on your mind:

– What are your current perceptions of the problems that stand in your way to reach the desired result?

– What actions did you come up with to get the desired result?

• These two questions tap into the thinking mode of people who are very good in seeing problems or who are very action oriented.

4 Experiment


CC

TC

?!

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Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

One of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

as noted by Stephen Covey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

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Different People tell Different Stories

Some people talk about targets







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2Grasp the Current

Condition

3Establish the

Target Condition

TargetCondition

4Experiment


CC

TC

?!

Some people talk about current results

Some people talk about actions

Some people talk about the future

Some people talk about the present

Some people talk about problems

First Capture the

Current Story.

Then Ask

Clarifying Questions.

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Meet people where they are

Just take a copy of my storyboard and ask people to tell the story of their subject of interest. Just listen and start making notes on the storyboard.

– Do you hear something about current results? you have a place to note that.

– Do you hear something about actions? you have a place to note that.

– Do you hear something about the current reality? you have a place to note that.

– Do you hear something about problems? you have a place to note that.

– Do you hear something about the future? you have a place to note that.

– Do you hear something about targets? you have a place to note that.

Nobody ticks

all the boxes!

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Meet people where they are

I have been using this practice for years and I noticed that…

– Some people talk primarily about problems.

– Quite often you will find that people talk primarily about targets and actions.

– Some people are great in expressing a future. Et cetera.

Different people tell different stories.

And that is OK!

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Check your Storyboard for Consistency


What has to change?

Do these conditions lead to these results?

Which obstacle(s) are we addressing?








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First Capture the

Current Story

Then Ask Clarifying Questions

Use the current story and the logic indicated by these arrows to craft highly customized questions.

Asking these customized questions is a great way to teach someone the thinking pattern of the improvement kata. One question at a time.

© emielvanest.nl

Check for Consistency: Direction

• This is the first one we need to get clarity about!

• This can be very hard, depending on the current story.

• Sometimes you get a lot of information about results and targets.

• Sometimes you get no information at all.

– You may get information about problems

– You may get information about actions.

• Quite often the current story is a mixed message...


© emielvanest.nl

Check for Consistency: Direction

• What we are looking for is: – What is the current result?

• Noun + number.

– What is the aspired result?

• Same noun + different number.

– By what date?

• Clear business need

– No hobby

– No entertainment

– No pastime ...

• Is about content

• And not about form


This can be very hard.

But it is critical!

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Do not proceed until the direction is clear!







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© emielvanest.nl

Check for Consistency: Action

• Strange as it may seem, usually the actions are the ones I address next.

• The arrow indicates that actions (experiments) address one or more obstacles.

• Clear the action field by transforming actions into obstacles

• Usually people have good reasons to take or propose actions.

• Usually people do not articulate those reasons.

• I want to know these reasons:

– Could you explain why you want to take that action?

– What is the problem you try to overcome with that action?

– ...

Which obstacle(s) are we addressing?

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Behind the action is a perceived obstacle!







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© emielvanest.nl

An obstacle is a characteristic that

has to change.

What has to change?

Check for Consistency: Obstacles

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Check for Consistency: Obstacles

• Each obstacle has hidden in it a characteristic.

• A characteristic is a “knob” or “lever” that may indeed have an influence on the result that we want to change.

• Look for the nouns.

• I want to know these hidden characteristics!

– You spoke about this problem/obstacle. Could you tell me a bit more about it?

– What is the current situation regarding this problem?

• How do you know?

– What would you like it to be?

– What would it look like when this problem is gone?

What has to change?

© emielvanest.nl

Behind the obstacle is a characteristic for the current or the target condition.







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© emielvanest.nl

Check for Consistency: Characteristics

• Now we are entering the finals!

• Now you have a list of potential characteristics that can describe the current and target condition.

• Now you need to check if these characteristics indeed have an influence on the result

• Pleas note that there may still be characteristics missing...

• Check each characteristic for influence on the result.

• These methods are preferred:

– Arithmics

– Mathematics

– Physics

– Experiments

• Sometimes you need to use these:

– Logic

– Intuition

– ..


© emielvanest.nl

Filter the characteristics found. Check for missing characteristics.







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© emielvanest.nl

Check for Consistency: Quantify

• It is not always possible to quantify.

• It is more often possible to quantify than many people think.

• Each characteristic should be quantified

– Current value

– Needed value

• Again try to use:

– Arithmics

– Mathematics

– Physics

– Logic


© emielvanest.nl

Quantify







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From # To #

From # To #

From # To #

© emielvanest.nl







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Open question: Improver: Coach:

What is your next step? What do you expect? What actually happened? What did you learn?

Experiment

Exp

eri

me

nt

Title: Improver:

Open question Logic behind the question

What must we do?

Coach:

Title: Improver:





What has to change?

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Coach:

2nd Coach(Manager)

Coach(Manager)




Coach(Manager)


Team Team Team Team

By now you have clarified your current thinking! But likely there are still some unanswered questions...

Phase 1: Clarify Your Thinking Phase 2: Find First Answers

Phase 3: Engage Others

Focus of next document

Questions? [email protected]

© emielvanest.nl

Give this method a try!

Make a print of the storyboard and make your first draft.

Let me know what you think!

Do not hesitate to contact me if you need some help.

[email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanest/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanest/

© emielvanest.nl







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© emielvanest.nl

© emielvanest.nl

Title: Improver:





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Coach:

my toyota kata teaching approach phase 1: clarify your ... · two columns of the storyboard. •...

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