Today’s reading pick:

Toyota KATA

Engineer and continuous improvement expert Mike Rother explains that “improvement kata” and “coaching kata” form the invisible bonds that make Toyota successful. 

He explains essential improvement concepts like “PDCA” and “mentor-mentee dialogue” in detail, complete with case histories and examples. His text is dense, yet easy enough to digest if your background is in manufacturing. Fortunately, he loves schematic figures and explanatory drawings and they help guide the way. We from Operations Insider recommend Rother’s insights to leaders in manufacturing eager to explore behavioral patterns and techniques that go beyond the known Lean Manufacturing toolkit.

And yet before we forget: KATA stands for the Japanese term of a routine or pattern that improves your practice. Coming from martial arts and repeat a certain sequence of exercises.

Enjoy reading and improving!