Toyota Kata: From Kaizen Newspaper to Experimenting / Learning Record

In a traditional kaizen event there is usually some kind of todo list for keeping track of progress implementing the ideas of the team. A common name for this form is “Kaizen Newspaper.” The below example is pretty typical. This is a real one from the early 2000’s. This form reflects a bias in western …

Toyota Kata: Reflection on Coaching Struggling Learners

The “Five Questions” are a very effective way to structure a coaching / learning conversation when all parties are more or less comfortable with the process. Some learners, however, seriously struggle with both the thinking pattern and the process of improvement itself. They can get so focused on answering the 5 questions “correctly” that they …