Latest Webinar: "The Kaizen/Kata Nexus"

I had a great time with my good buddy, Mark Graban, yesterday doing this webinar.  It was an experiment, actually.  We were attempting to articulate the ways in which Kaizen & Kata reinforce and enable one another.  They're not just complementary, and they're certainly not in competition with one another; rather, we believe them to be symbiotic.  This is just one attempt at reconciling this in our heads, and we'll continue these types of discussions so that we have a stronger grasp of how Lean systems interact.

Healthcare Kata on YouTube

Last month I was honored to be invited to speak at the 10th Annual Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference hosted by GBMP, Inc.  It was my first time attending this conference, and I have to say that it's a truly wonderful event.  Well-organized, great people...awesome vibe.  Go to this event if you can!

Anyway, my 40-minute presentation was not recorded, so I broke it up into a series of six short presentation, added my voice-over to the slides, and uploaded the resulting videos to YouTube:

"Healthcare Kata" Series on YouTube

The presentation is basically me sharing the results of some of my experiments with the Toyota Kata approach in hospitals.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  Hopefully it's useful to you.

Here's the first video, which is introductory...

The second video is where I provide an overview of the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata techniques...

Videos 3, 4, and 5 dive into specific examples of the Kata in action in hospitals...

And last but not least, part 6 is where I provide a metaphor that hopefully explains how the Kata approach fits into a lean transformation...

The Big Kata

When it comes to improvement methodologies, scalability is important.  It's great when we can use a consistent approach to improvement regardless of whether we're working on a small, incremental improvement on the front-lines or a big, strategic improvement at the enterprise level.

But why do we want a single approach?

There are lots of benefits to having a single approach to improvement:

• Fewer approaches = less jargon = less confusion
• Fewer approaches = more repetition on the chosen approach = more "muscle memory"
• Fewer approaches = less education/training required = more time spent learning-by-doing
• Fewer approaches = easier to spot errors in technique = easier to coach/mentor others

And so on and so forth.  Plenty of upside, but what is the downside?  It's that whatever improvement methodology you choose must be scalable.  It must be effective for big efforts, small efforts, and everything in-between.  It must also plug & play with improvement tools/techniques such as kaizen events, value stream mapping, job instruction training, KaiNexus, etc.

So what kind of approach would be fully scalable?

The Toyota Kata approach is one methodology that I believe fits the bill.  In my experience as both a Learner and Coach of the Kata approach in a hospital setting, I have observed it to be an effective approach for large value stream transformation-type projects, as well as staff-led incremental improvements on the front-lines.  I've also seen it used in conjunction with kaizen events and several other lean tools/techniques.

However, there is one type of project on which I've not personally utilized the Kata approach:  an enterprise-wide Lean deployment.

The Hypothetical "BIG KATA"

A great proof of concept for the Toyota Kata approach as a fully scalable improvement methodology would be to use it to drive the full-blow Lean transformation of an organization.  I call this the BIG KATA.

How might the BIG KATA look in practice?  Let's do a hypothetical analysis...

First, let's look at the mental model that defines how a Kata practitioner views a continuous improvement journey...

In written form, it's the progression from the Current Condition to the Next Target Condition (there's always a next one) in iterative fashion (via PDSA/PDCA cycles that remove obstacles) in pursuit of a Big Challenge, all in alignment with the long-term Ideal Condition.  

Now, let's dive into each element of this mental model with regards to the BIG KATA i.e. a full-scale Lean deployment (and let's do this in the context of a hospital/healthcare setting).

Ideal Condition

First up is the Ideal Condition, that off-in-the-distance, sort of vague, North Star-like, overall direction that guides our Lean transformation.  Maybe for a hospital, it's something like "Maximize the health of the community in a waste-free manner" as shown below...

In other words, pure value being delivered to the customer.  That's the purpose of Lean, to deliver better and better value to our customers.  We don't "do" Lean for the sake of doing Lean.

Big Challenge

So, now we have the long-term direction for our Lean initiative.  Let's work back from there to establish a Big Challenge that we can rally around in the medium-term (let's say for a project this size, the next 6 months to 2 years).  Maybe the hospital struggles with misaligned and unsustainable improvement efforts, so the situational approach to take in this scenario might be to establish a mature Hoshin Planning system (to drive alignment) while also building competency with the Toyota Kata approach (to drive sustainability).  This is a huge challenge!  Let's see how it looks below...

Now that we have our Big Challenge, that is somewhat tangible, to guide our decision-making over the next few years, we can get down to the real meat of the Kata approach, which is the progression toward successive Target Conditions.

Current Condition

In our hypothetical hospital scenario, let's say we did a study of the current condition of the organization and found that the there was a rudimentary Hoshin Planning system in-place already, but that it lacked some key elements such as the "catchball" process.  And let's say that plenty of improvement activity was taking place via specialist-led kaizen events, operational leader-led "just-do-its", etc., but that these improvements were short-lived and unsustainable once the inevitable force of entropy took hold.  Let's show this below...

Target Condition

Finally, let's assume that our analysis showed that it would be difficult to build consensus with senior leadership for a change to our Hoshin Planning system until we had shown the ability to sustain process improvement results.  In this scenario, me might establish a first Target Condition that calls for the development of an Advance Team of Toyota Kata practitioners who can quickly learn the Kata, start showing sustainable PI results, and start to coach others within the next 3 months or so.  Let's see how this looks below...

PDSA Cycles

So now we're ready to rock & roll.  At this point, we can start pursuing our target condition by identifying obstacles and eliminating them through rapid cycles of PDSA.  The first obstacle might be that we haven't actually selected our Advance Team.  And maybe the next obstacle after that is that the Advance Team doesn't appear to have the time to devote to their Kata practice.  These are all likely obstacles, but all solvable through persistent cycles of PDSA.  Let's look at this below...

Needless to say, whoever is performing these PDSA cycles (and for that matter, whoever is leading this whole BIG KATA in the first place) must be a pretty savvy Kata practitioner.  Oftentimes, but not always, this might imply the need for external expertise/support/coaching.

Once enough obstacles had been removed and our first Target Condition achieved, we would work to establish the next Target Condition (perhaps utilizing the "catchball" process to establish a few strategic objectives that could guide the improvement efforts of the Advance Team and other Kata practitioners?) in pursuit of our Big Challenge of establishing Hoshin Planning and Toyota Kata across the organization.  And of course, all of this is in alignment with the Ideal Condition of the hospital, which is to maximize the health of the community in a waste-free manner.  That's the BIG KATA...in a purely hypothetical sense.

Conclusion

Obviously this is all just conjecture.  Would it work?  I don't know.  I would need more evidence.

I'm sure some advanced thinkers (other than Toyota!) have successfully applied the Kata approach to an all-out Lean transformation, and I'd love to see if the empirical evidence supports my hypothesis that the Toyota Kata approach is a fully scalable improvement methodology, even up to the level of a full-blown Lean deployment.  If that is indeed the reality, then it supports the case to adopt The Toyota Kata approach.

My Video Webinar with Gemba Academy

A few weeks back I had the honor of collaborating with Mike Rother on a SlideShare titled "Top 10 Toyota Kata Lessons" based on my real-world lessons learned from practicing the Toyota Kata approach for about a year.  Just this past week, I was fortunate enough to share those same lessons learned via a video webinar with Gemba Academy.  Here's the recording (available to the public for 30 days until ~late April 2014):

Gemba Academy webinar:  "Michael Lombard - 10 Lessons from Practicing Toyota Kata"

Delivering this webinar was a challenge for me personally.  Figuring out how to make the slides as eye-catching and minimalist as possible was difficult, as was trying to maintain "eye" contact with the camera while speaking to the slides.  Another great learning experience for me.

My Guest Appearance on the Lean Six Sigma Academy Podcast

Recently, I had the opportunity to discuss my thoughts on the Toyota Kata approach to continuous improvement with Ron Pereira on his Lean Six Sigma Academy podcast.  Here's the link...

LSSA Podcast:  "Michael Lombard, Leveraging the Toyota Kata"

It was a lot of fun.  I had never recorded a podcast before, so it was a learning experience for me.

Video Version of "My 3 Best Coaching Kata Mistakes"

With encouragement and guidance from Mike Rother, the great lean thinker and author of Toyota Kata, I turned the "My 3 Best Coaching Kata Mistakes" blog post into a voice-over presentation/YouTube video.  It was harder than I expected to produce this little 10-minute video, but I got plenty of lessons learned from it.  Here it is...

My 3 Best Coaching Kata Mistakes

Over the past few weeks I've started capturing my lessons learned from practicing the Toyota Kata approach.  First, I posted my top 10 lessons learned to my blog.  This led to some incredibly helpful feedback from the great Jeff Liker over at the Toyota Way group on LinkedIn.  It also led to the equally great lean thinker, Mike Rother, guiding me to the creation of a SlideShare version of my top 10 lessons.  The latest news is that I will have the opportunity to share what I've learned via a webinar later this month on Gemba Academy.

What's valuable to me about all this activity is that it supercharges my learning. Probably 95% of my Kata skill-building comes from real-world application (learning by doing).  But to capture that last 5% requires some reflection and external feedback, which is why it's great to have a coach or sensei as you move forward on your learning journey.  I ask you, how would Daniel-san have fared in that tournament without Mr. Miyagi?

The Challenge

Unfortunately, many of us will not have access to an experienced sensei that truly understands how to coach the Kata approach.  Most of our in-house PI folks like me (Black Belts, etc.) are great at solving problems, but aren't the ideal Kata coaches for myriad reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• They aren't trained on how to coach in general
• They aren't familiar with the Kata approach at all
• They're judged based on the ROI of their projects, not how well they spread kaizen habits

This is problematic because high-quality external senseis can be hard to find and fund.  Internal leaders outside of the PI department can be great coaches eventually, but during the early "incubation" period of the Kata approach they will need room to grow as Improvement Kata practitioners before they can be effective coaches.

In this common scenario, all you can do is move forward and treat your initial foray into coaching as a PDSA experiment.  You will have a hypothesis about what constitutes good Coaching Kata; you will be wrong.  And wrong again.  And again.

For me personally, it took performing about 100 coaching cycles with about 10 clinical leaders from across the hospital just to know what I didn't know about the Coaching Kata.  Now, after about 300 coaching cycles with about 20 people I'm finally just now starting to "get" it a little bit.  Yeah, it has been a humbling experience.

But let me share with you some of my most humbling coaching mistakes so that maybe you can move along that learning curve a bit quicker than me.  Here are my 3 best Coaching Kata mistakes ('best' because they have yielded the most insights for me):

Mistake #1:  Being Too Rigid

The Coaching Kata provides a wonderful framework for coaching.  Specifically, there are two routines we perform:

1. Instruction/Coaching:  this is the general guidance, teaching, moral support, etc. that is provided while the Learner is performing the first three routines of the Improvement Kata that make up the planning phase.
2. Daily Coaching Cycles:  this is the structured routine guided by the 5 Questions that is performed frequently while the Learner is performing the fourth routine of the IK that makes up the execution phase (we call it "being on the staircase").

My main mistake was in conflating and confusing these routines.  Because the 5 Questions Pocket Card was like a warm blanket during times of uncertainty, I would revert to it too early on in the IK process.  I was trying to do routine #2 (daily coaching cycle) while the Learner was still in the planning phase.

This made for awkward, rigid coaching.  This is because when the Learner is still trying to see the overall direction, grasp the current condition, and establish a target condition, the path forward is too cloudy to be able to concisely answer the pointed 5 Questions.  During the early planning phase, we should give the Learner a slightly wider birth.

Also, regardless of which of the two coaching routines we're performing, we should remember that these are person-to-person encounters.  Take the time to "break the ice" before jumping into the Kata.  Help the Learner get over the discomfort of a new, foreign management routine.  Acknowledge the inherent awkwardness of two novices trying to pretend like they know what to do next. It's okay!

Mistake #2:  Short-Changing True North 

The first step of the Improvement Kata is to understand the overall direction of the improvement effort.  The overall direction can be comprised of several elements, including but not limited to the following:

• Ideal Condition (perfection)
• Long-term strategy
• 1-2 year challenges
• Future-state value stream maps
• Key performance indicators

Taken together, these elements provide a True North by which we can guide our improvement efforts.  Taking the time to properly understand how our individual PI initiatives fit into the the big picture is incredibly important.  Not performing this routine properly increases the risk of poor organizational alignment, ineffective strategy deployment, "scattershot management", etc.  Bad stuff.

Yet, I still find myself to this day doing an inadequate job of coaching Learners on this first step of the IK.  We typically end up spending about five minutes just verifying that "yes, this particular PI project will help improve patient safety, and therefore, it's well-aligned with the overall direction."  That's pretty much a waste of time; we need to do a better job of connecting individual PI projects to the big picture in a less platitudinous and more concrete way. 

On the surface, this appears to be an easy coaching mistake to fix.  It would seem straightforward enough to help the Learner put together an A3 that shows the Ideal Condition, long-term strategy, KPIs, etc. of their PI project.  But in many organizations, it's not so easy because strategy is not transparent or hasn't been cascaded down to the level of the Learner.  We can't expect the Learner to plug & play without a port, no matter how good their dongle is.

What I'm learning as of late is that even if we don't have a mature strategy deployment system yet, we can still harness the fractal nature of the Kata approach (see page 21 of this presentation).  The target condition of a big, strategic improvement initiative can provide the big, longer-term challenge for a smaller PI project.  A practical approach to making this happen could be to have the Learners for the big, strategic initiatives be the coaches for the small PI projects related to them.

In experimenting with this approach, I've seen my ability to recognize potential synergies and detect potential misalignments improve.  It's not a perfect solution (we ultimately need something like hoshin kanri to systematically drive alignment), but it's a start.

Mistake #3:  Not Utilizing Judo

In that Karate Kid clip above, Mr. Miyagi did a great job of using the testosterone-fueled aggressiveness of the Cobra Kai against them, judo style.  He had mastered the art of leveraging momentum in a productive manner.  The same approach should be taken when practicing the Coaching Kata.

One of the toughest things for me as a Coach has been to know when to hold the Learner back a little bit and when to encourage them to move forward with change.  Any good PI professional knows that blindly implementing countermeasures before properly understanding root causes is foolishness.  This is so much a part of the Lean canon that it's self-evident.

However, in practice, it's not always clear if we have properly understood the root causes of our problems.  At some point in our analysis, we hit the limits of our knowledge frontier.  At that point, we have a big batch of root cause analysis work that needs to be validated, and as with any form of batch production, there's always a risk of delayed detection of defects (in this case, the errors would be in the form of incorrect root causes being identified).  Therefore, as Coaches, we need to be adept at sensing when the RCA batch size is getting too big and needs to be validated through some PDSA hypothesis testing.

One way to look at this is as 'mini-cycles of PDSA embedded within the Plan phase of a bigger PDSA cycle.'  It's testing, as opposed to implementing, countermeasures.  Another way to look at this is that it's the recursive nature of the Improvement Kata, with the learnings of the execution phase informing and refining the work of the preceding phases.

However you choose to see it, just know that it's one of the hardest things to get a feel for as a Coach.  You'll need plenty of Coaching Kata repetition and hopefully some secondary coaching from a sensei.  You'll also need to know your audience.  In hospitals, we have some ER nurses that would put this guy to shame in terms of being "action-oriented"...

Courtesy of www.giphy.com