Improvement Kata, Coaching Kata, Mike Rother, Toyota Kata, Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, Management, Leadership, Continuous Improvement, Toyota Way, Learning Organization, Organizational Learning, Innovation, Adaptiveness, Evolution, PDCA Cycle, Toyota Management, Lean Enterprise Institute, Creativity, Learning, Cognitive Science, Problem Solving, Brain, Human Endeavor

1. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
1
The Role of Challenge
Mike Rother
Gerd Aulinger
August 2010
Copyright © 2010 Mike Rother, all rights reserved
1217 Baldwin Avenue / Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA / tel: (734) 665-5411 / mrother@umich.edu
in Continuous Improvement

2. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
2
TOYOTA LISTS CHALLENGE FIRST
AMONG ITS PRINCIPLES
Toyota Motor Corporation
Environmental & Social Report 2003, Page 80

3. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
3
CHALLENGE IS REQUIRED
FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
* The Lifeʼs Work of a Thought Leader,
strategy+business, August 9, 2010
As C.K. Prahalad said:*
“If you want to create entrepreneurial drive in
a company, you have to create aspirations that
lie outside your resource base.”
All work doesnʼt need to be a
challenge, nor does the challenge
need to be a big one.
The point is only that a portion of our
workday should involve striving toward
something new we want to achieve.
A challenge brings us to the current limits of our thinking,
and forces us to learn and adapt.

4. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
4
If you just try to motivate people to meet goals or try to
inspire them to solve problems, they will naturally do so
by using existing ways of thinking. This too often leads
to actions like 'cutting,' rather than developing new
solutions and true system improvement.
It is disrespectful of people if they are given challenges
but not also taught an effective way of meeting them.
BUT JUST ISSUING CHALLENGES WONʼT WORK

5. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
5
An organizationʼs managers should be teaching an
improvement kata as the means for improving. This is
done through daily practice.
An improvement kata is a systematic routine for
moving from the current situation to a new situation
in a creative, directed, meaningful way.
We want
to be
here
We are
here
? ?
??
The grey zone
DEVELOPING THE COMPETENCY
TO MEET CHALLENGES

6. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
6
PRACTICING A KATA
FOR MEETING CHALLENGES
The Improvement Kata = a systematic way of achieving things
that you donʼt know how you are going to achieve
Vision
Current
Condition
Target
Condition
Next
Obstacles
2 3 14
Challenge
1 In consideration of a direction or challenge...
2 Grasp the current condition.
3 Define the next target condition.
4 Move toward that target condition with PDCA, which
uncovers obstacles that need to be worked on.

7. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
7
SKILL plus MOTIVATION
Target
Condition
Current
Condition ChallengeObstacles
Teaching this is
managementʼs job
Establishing this is
part of leadership
1x1 flow
at the lowest
possible cost
Vision
for
Customer
Teach this
Motivating and inspiring is only half of the recipe.
Leading involves establishing vision and challenge.
Managing involves teaching people how to systematically
work in that direction and overcome obstacles.

8. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
8
A CHALLENGE IS A LINK
Between the organizationʼs strategy and process-level execution
Target
Condition
Current
Condition ChallengeObstacles Vision
A Task for Managers:
Coaching application of the
Improvement Kata in their area
of responsibility
A Task for Leaders:
Establishing overall
direction
Leadership defines the Vision (which is something idealistic and far
out in the future), and then coaches the next level down (managers)
in setting the next Challenge, which is something that will move the
organization toward the vision, and which can be met much sooner.
Then, one level down, managers coach their Learners through the
Improvement Kata process (Understand the Direction --> Grasp the
Current Condition --> Establish the Next Target Condition --> Iterate
Toward the Target Condition) toward the Challenge.

9. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
9
A TEACHING ROUTINE FOR MANAGERS
Ask these questions at each process every day
This is part of “Coaching Cycles” or the “Coaching Kata”

10. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
10
Learnerʼs
Storyboard
Learner
Team
Manager
Coaching
Kata
Improvement
Kata
FIGURE 1-5 from TOYOTA KATA
Focus here is on
developing people
and the organization
Focus here is on
developing the
work process

11. © Mike Rother TOYOTA KATA
11
A POSITIVE CHAIN REACTION
When teams practice
the improvement
kata they become
more skillful and
competent at
meeting challenges...
... because they learn
to work iteratively
and scientifically.
Self-Efficacy: The belief that you can master a situation
Self-Efficacy is learned
As a result, they grow
more comfortable with
unpredictable paths
Which allows them
to be more open
to new challenges!
Increased
Skill
Self
Efficacy¢ ¢ Openness to
Challenges