Toyota Production System Archives | Page 2 of 4 | Management Meditations on Lean Management

Toyota Kata, Team Kata, and Levels of Complexity

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Sep 16, 2014 | Coaching, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Toyota Production System | 4

Implementing lean management, or any other change in the culture of organizations, requires a zoom lens to see the different levels of complexity required. Toyota Kata, lean tools, and other methods operate at some focal lengths and not at others. The well informed manager will have the ability to understand complexity and to use simple methods when appropriate. If you are photographer with only a 300mm lens you will miss a lot of great photos.

Lean Training: An Efficient Solution

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | May 19, 2014 | Lean Culture, Lean Management, Team Development, Toyota Production System | 3

The problem for most organizations developing lean management is two fold: first, how to change the culture in a significant way, in a reasonable period of time; and second, how to provide the needed training to a large number of people in a consistent and quality manner. Team Kata is an effort to solve both of those problems.

The Lean System of Motivation

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Feb 23, 2014 | Corporate Culture, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System | 9

One aspect of lean that has not been given enough attention, in my opinion, is how lean is an organization wide system of motivation that creates a high performance culture. Too many lean implementations suffer from a focus on problem solving skills, but a failure to attend to the system or culture of motivation. Too many rely on the “they oughtta wanna” assumption which usually results in disappointment.

A highly motivated work force is not an accident. It is not the result of being in one part of the country or another, have having a union or non-union. It is the result of systematic efforts on the part of management to design and improve a system of motivation. The most effective systems optimize both an ennobling purpose, the social bonds of strong teamwork, and the availability of individual incentives. They all contribute unique elements to a holistic system of motivation.

Social Capital: Families and Teams Form the Social Capital of Our Culture

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Jan 6, 2014 | Corporate Culture, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Social Capital, Team Development, Toyota Production System | 9

Healthy families in which there is high trust result in high academic performance. This is “family social capital.” Similarly, the team at the first level is the foundation of social capital in the organization. This social capital is a key factor in generating continuous improvement and achieving high job satisfaction and retention of employees.

Leadership Lessons from the Obamacare Crisis

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Nov 20, 2013 | Information technology, Lean Management, Toyota Production System | 3

In my opinion, it is obvious that the current state of our healthcare system is unacceptable and it is equally obvious that the way the new law has been implemented has been unacceptably clumsy.
The question I want to address is what are the lessons one can learn from this mess and if you were the CEO of this organization what would you do differently? My thoughts follow.

Category: Toyota Production System

Toyota Kata, Team Kata, and Levels of Complexity

Lean Training: An Efficient Solution

The Lean System of Motivation

Leadership Lessons from the Obamacare Crisis

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