Graphical depiction of the Toyota Production System.
Why You Should Care About Toyota
If you want to understand and eventually excel at something, you must first understand its history and origins, and then study and practice it daily, seeking coaching and knowledge to refine your skills along your journey.
The same principle applies to “lean”. You can’t really understand it without going back to the source and learning about Toyota, and the Toyota Production System (actually, you need to go back much, much farther but that is beyond the scope of this blog post for now!). The goal for this post is not to make you a Toyota or TPS expert - the goal is to familiarize you with the business framework that TPS exists within at Toyota. This may help you understand a little more about some reasons lean works so well for Toyota, and why it doesn’t stand a chance or is very difficult to implement in many organizations.
We want to make this information easy to understand and accessible, which means (to some Toyota/TPS purists) there will be elements that may feel (over)simplified.
Before we get too far, I can hear some of you from here in my home office, with the echoes of your cries ringing from across the ethernet, saying, “But we are nothing like Toyota! We are different! This is how: _____!”
You can fill in the blank with all of the various ways you are different from Toyota, but I already knew and understood that you are not like Toyota when I started writing this (and I say this tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek, if you were like Toyota, you likely would not be reading this).
Let’s start by recognizing that not being “like Toyota” is perfectly ok. Your organization is unique and you are on your own path.
But if you want to understand more about lean and how you can create a culture of continuous learning, growth and improvement in your own organization - it’s helpful to look to those who have gone successfully before you and take some of what they’ve done and see how it applies to you.
That is why you should care about Toyota!
Guiding Principles and Values
Your organization should have core values and beliefs that guide it. These principles aren’t just the “motherhood and apple pie” statements that many companies espouse, but are deeply held beliefs of each and every employee.
Toyota calls these values their, “Guiding Principles.” They have seven guiding principles, and they’ve been in place for nearly three decades with one revision in 1997. Toyota still acknowledges its ties to its roots, which were the five main principles of its founder, Sakichi Toyoda. Reading both sets of principles, you will find parallels and similarities between them which speaks to a consistency of purpose that has spanned over a century.
Source: https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/toyotaway_code-of-conduct/
The Toyota Way/ Code of Conduct
Toyota further clarifies their Guiding Principles into two key behavioral systems: The Toyota Way (depicted graphically at right) and the Toyota Code of Conduct.
The Toyota Way has two main components that describe how Toyota embodies the Guiding Principles: Continuous Improvement, and Respect for People. Continuous Improvement is characterized by three concepts: Challenge, Kaizen, and Genchi Genbutsu. Respect for People is characterized by Respect and Teamwork. The fact that these two components are detailed out in The Toyota Way, with the behaviors and actions that support them, is a unique aspect of how Toyota views lean and its Production System. TPS is not just a “standalone program” to be delegated to someone down the chain of command, it is a way of life and an expectation of every person in the organization to behave accordingly.
Source: https://global.toyota/pages/global_toyota/company/vision-and-philosophy/code_of_conduct_001_en.pdf
Interestingly, the Toyota Code of Conduct is more than a typical “employee handbook”. When you read the code, which is available for download on the Toyota website, something interesting pops out on the fourth page. My guess is that a casual observer won’t “get it” but an advanced practitioner of lean will understand its criticality right away (more on this in a few minutes, I promise!)
The diagram at left, shows the Guiding Principles as the overarching structure, resting upon two pillars: The Toyota Way and the Toyota Code of Conduct. Flowing from the Principles, is the Vision, the Master Plan, the Company Hoshin, the Hoshin for each field, and the Daily business operations. This is not just a cool or convenient graphical effect - what it is showing is that Toyota starts with Why. Everything they do, flows from their Guiding Principles and is upheld by the behavioral pillars!
Global Vision
Source: https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/global-vision/
Toyota has chosen a tree to symbolize their vision, where the roots are the Guiding Principles from which the “fruits” will grow. There is a clear and strong connection between living and working according to the principles and upholding the behaviors of The Toyota Way and the Toyota Code of Conduct, and the expected outcomes and rewards of doing so. Instead of viewing the “fruits” as the goal, they are viewed as a natural progression and result from doing things the “right” way. Additionally, the vision is not short-term focused - there is a strong element of sustainability and being in it for the long-haul.
“The image of a tree has been used to symbolize the Toyota Vision from 'roots to fruits'. The tree is a symbol of natural strength. It is useful and long-lasting, something that continues to grow and flourish year after year.”
- https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/global-vision/
Global Master Plan, Company Hoshin, Hoshin for Each Field, and Daily Operations
From the Five Main Principles of Toyoda, Toyota’s Guiding Principles and The Toyota Way, springs forth the Global Vision. From this vision, there is a long-term Master Plan.
This is that piece that “pops out” to more advanced lean practitioners. From the long term Master Plan, the Annual Company Hoshin cascades to the Divisions, and the Hoshin for each field (such as environment, safety, health, etc.) ensure that the Plans are executed and the Vision is achieved. From here, the day-to-day production operations are run according to the Toyota Production System.
But, unlike many organizations, the means of achieving the vision is not left to individual leaders: it is incorporated directly into the Toyota Code of Conduct. In other words, “lean” is not just another initiative at Toyota. It is woven into every element of how they do business. It is actually quite elegant in its simplicity when you think about it.
The Toyota Production System
Much has been written about the TPS and lean, and hopefully, after reading this post, you can see that part of the challenge in “implementing lean” or “doing lean” or “becoming lean” or even “leading a lean transformation” is that the Toyota Production System does not stand alone without support.
When we first started talking about lean some three decades back, we frankly missed this. We saw lean as what was visible to us and have been surprised time and time again when it fails to meet our expectations or is unsustainable in our existing traditional management systems.
What we failed to see when we focused on all of the tools and methods, is that TPS is a part of a larger organism. It is integrated into a structured management system and philosophy based on a strong belief system and behavioral guidelines that support it. Implementing “lean” without the rest of the organism is a bit like taking the heart out of a living being, and expecting it to live on without the rest of the body.
©2020 Dawn Armfield, ValueFlo Consulting LLC
To Learn More:
For a basic understanding of the Toyota Production System, you may be interested in our free Lean Foundations Mini Course on TPS. To learn more about the topics discussed in this blog post, you may want to visit some useful links from the Toyota Official Global Website:
