The Improvement Kata Handbook - by Mike Rother EtAl

Taken from: The Kata Improvement Handbook

Currently, I am attending a design thinking course #DTActionLab (current assignment challenge due today), the International Conference on Engineering Design in Seoul #ICED13 just having been started today, it came to mind there is a more that Toyota has brought to the "world table".

"Lean" may be the buzzword, lots of consultants, and marketeers build their business on, selling standard solutions to clients who are urgently in need to solve their present pressing problems.

However, the wisdom is right inside our organizations we often see struggling, especially when we are the customer.

Can we as individuals, and groups harness this gold around us? Certainly, we only have to learn to see and take the choices wisely.

Mike Rother, Professor at the University of Ann Arbor, has recently shared - in creative commons terms - his book called:

The Improvement Kata Handbook

PS.: Thanks a lot, Mike & TEAM!!!

Changing to the Better - Would You Dare?

In tough times, challenges ahead, just take the detour to the bookstore closest to you. Stroll around (in the real Presencing mode) and let surprises catch you. Mine was definitely MikeRother's newest book which I found in German version (quite uncommon for lean or state of the art international business literature).

My key points taking away:

1. Change can't be imposed to running processes (which are mainly influenced and lived by people) through workshops, specialists/experts, teaching outside the workplace
2. MBM - Management by Means (to go the next level managing what you have most elegantly)
3. Start small - even though you can't really foresee what the future brings
4. Do that - quick, transparent, and learn immediately on feedback
5. Mike mentioned a holistic view, where everything is connected, which goes right into system dynamics
6. ... ask yourself where you are today (with the company), where you want to be (in the future), and what is currently hindering you. Then decide on small action that go into that future direction (immediately (!)) and let your folks on the shopfloor and office have their way (they mostly know best)

Reading through the following books is also highly recommended in doing the follow up and putting the read into practice. They are not mentioned in the book, however it became clear to me that the fields are highly interconnected. A small investment for a person, a huge for personal learning, and an immense for the people and the organization!

1. Business Dynamics, John Sterman
2. Theory U - To Lead from the Future as it Emerges, Otto Scharmer
3. Process Consultation, Edgar Schein