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The Cascade of Hoshin A recent gemba walk at a Toyota plant reveals how the company operationalizes its hoshin plan — in this case, to win the auto industry’s transition to Mobility 2.0, what Toyota President Akio Toyoda calls a “onceinacentury disruption.” By James Womack For many years, I have watched organizations attempt to implement hoshin planning (strategy deployment, if you prefer). First, they pick a few big issues important to the longterm success of the organization — a leap in quality, a dramatic drop in costs, a reduction in lead time to better meet customer demand, a fundamental rethink of the type of value the organization creates for customers. And then, they try to deploy initiatives to address these issues down through the levels of the organization. But even when they limit the initiatives to a small, manageable number, they rarely succeed. What starts with the loud voice of the CEO at the top becomes a faint whisper by the time it reaches the organization’s front lines, where value of whatever description is created and where improvement becomes real. At this level, managers are mostly absorbed with daily chaos, with no workable method for addressing hoshin objectives even when they are clearly stated and prioritized for that level. How Toyota Cascades Hoshin Recently, I had the opportunity to closely observe hoshin planning at Toyota, which has developed the management mechanisms necessary to translate highlevel hoshin plans into sustainable results on the front lines. Let me describe what I’ve seen. “Toyota has developed the management mechanisms necessary to translate highlevel hoshin plans to sustainable results on the front lines.” Toyota President Akio Toyoda and the senior leadership team have decided that the simultaneous emergence of autonomy, alternative energy, shared assets, and hyperconnectivity is collectively creating a “onceinacentury disruption” in the auto industry as it transitions to a mobility industry, commonly termed Mobility 2.0. (Whether this is true or not is a separate question, although every other legacy car company has reached the same conclusion. My point here is about the successful deployment of hoshin, not the validity of the hoshin vision.) And recently, Toyota has had to add an extra dimension to the challenge: uncertainty about global trading rules, which might require substantial relocation of existing production, with loss of revenue and increased costs
Understanding Hoshin Kanri The top five articles on the topic from the Lean Post showcase the power of this strategy deployment practice Table of Contents The Cascade of Hoshin Page by Jim Womack A recent gemba walk at a Toyota plant reveals how the company operationalizes its hoshin plan — in this case, to win the auto industry’s transition to Mobility 2.0, what Toyota President Akio Toyoda calls a “once-in-a-century disruption.” How Hoshin Kanri Aligns Your Key Organizational Systems Page by Mark Reich To build the culture and develop the complementary systems that connect your company’s strategic and operational plans, consider how they must work together, like the human body’s skeletal (hoshin) and muscular (continuous improvement) systems Building the Mindset and Skillset to Improve from the Board Room to the Classroom Page by Dr Pat Greco A school district superintendent describes how lean thinking and practice transformed a failing district into a nationally recognized model of continuous improvement How the Hoshin Kanri Process Coupled with Coaching Drives Lean Transformation, Part Page 12 by Laura Mottola A veteran coach shares a few intangible truths you’ll need to know to execute an organizational transformation using hoshin kanri How the Hoshin Kanri Process Coupled with Coaching Drives Lean Transformation, Part by Laura Mottola Discover how a coach can help leaders execute a successful organizational transformation using the hoshin kanri process Page 14 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri The Cascade of Hoshin planning at Toyota, which has developed the management mechanisms necessary to translate high-level hoshin plans into sustainable results on the front lines Let me describe what I’ve seen A recent gemba walk at a Toyota plant reveals how the company operationalizes its hoshin plan — in this case, to win the auto industry’s transition to Mobility 2.0, what Toyota President Akio Toyoda calls a “once-in-a-century disruption.” “Toyota has developed the management mechanisms necessary to translate high-level hoshin plans to sustainable results on the front lines.” By James Womack For many years, I have watched organizations attempt to implement hoshin planning (strategy deployment, if you prefer) First, they pick a few big issues important to the long-term success of the organization — a leap in quality, a dramatic drop in costs, a reduction in lead time to better meet customer demand, a fundamental rethink of the type of value the organization creates for customers And then, they try to deploy initiatives to address these issues down through the levels of the organization But even when they limit the initiatives to a small, manageable number, they rarely succeed Toyota President Akio Toyoda and the senior leadership team have decided that the simultaneous emergence of autonomy, alternative energy, shared assets, and hyperconnectivity is collectively creating a “once-in-a-century disruption” in the auto industry as it transitions to a mobility industry, commonly termed Mobility 2.0 (Whether this is true or not is a separate question, although every other legacy car company has reached the same conclusion My point here is about the successful deployment of hoshin, not the validity of the hoshin vision.) And recently, Toyota has had to add an extra dimension to the challenge: uncertainty about global trading rules, which might require substantial relocation of existing production, with loss of revenue and increased costs What starts with the loud voice of the CEO at the top becomes a faint whisper by the time it reaches the organization’s front lines, where value of whatever description is created and where improvement becomes real At this level, managers are mostly absorbed with daily chaos, with no workable method for addressing hoshin objectives even when they are clearly stated and prioritized for that level Because many things are changing at once and the right path to follow for each dimension of the Mobility 2.0 How Toyota Cascades Hoshin Recently, I had the opportunity to closely observe hoshin Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri challenge (plus the changing rules of trade) is impossible to know, Toyota is responding by extending its principles of concurrent engineering with set-based design from individual vehicles to whole mobility systems For example, it is experimenting with: • Level autonomy, where vehicles drive themselves, and Guardian, a system that leaves driving to the driver but prevents the driver from making dangerous mistakes • Electric vehicles with pioneering solid-state batteries and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles • Partnerships with ride-hailing firms and logistics firms like Uber and Amazon and experiments with Toyota fleets of shared, autonomous vehicles (to be showcased at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics) • Toyota Connected for connectivity between vehicles, passengers, and their environment and partnerships with other connectivity providers a companion operational hoshin of “create the financial resources to support the respond-to-disruption hoshin.” This cascading of the strategic hoshin to an operational hoshin at the value-creating front lines provides the critical means to a vital strategic end — that’s hoshin done right “So the primary strategic hoshin of “address the oncein-a-century-disruption of the automotive industry” needs a companion operational hoshin of “create the financial resources to support the respond-to-disruption hoshin.” The specific means were recently visible to me on the shop floor at Toyota Kyushu’s Miyata assembly plant on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu (This plant assembles Lexus vehicles.) The hoshin objective that came down to the plant for this year is a target to substantially reduce costs while accommodating a richer model mix while reducing takt time to meet increased demand (with substantially no capex) while sustaining assembly quality at the current level, which is reported by J.D Power and Associates to be the highest in the world And, perhaps most interesting, they’ve initiated a major push to apply Toyota Production System (TPS) principles to the development of the enormous software packages needed for each of these innovations Many of these experiments may fail And, even if a number of the concepts prove worthy of widespread adoption, Toyota must expend massive sums now for lengthy experiments to determine which work best while defending its current employees, always a core Toyota principle So the primary strategic hoshin of “address the once-ina-century-disruption of the automotive industry” needs To be clear: This objective means increasing the production rate with no capital spending while sustaining world-best What is Hoshin Kanri? Also known as Strategy or Policy Deployment, Hoshin Kanri is a management process that aligns — both vertically and horizontally — an organization’s functions and activities with its strategic objectives A specific plan — typically annual — is developed with precise goals, actions, timelines, responsibilities, and measures from the Lean Lexicon 5th Edition Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri quality and reducing the number of workers required on the line (more on that in a moment) Thus, it will save money that will be used for experiments with Mobility 2.0 And these experiments will permit Toyota to survive and defend jobs in the long run Wow This is big And it’s complicated How exactly to this? Andon Understanding the Background for the ‘How’ The Miyata plant has a very mature lean production system that has created basic stability: the production line runs more than 98% of the time, with about 1,000 Andon pulls per day in final assembly Almost all of these are addressed by team leaders within takt time to steadily produce good vehicles with very little rework This stability means, in turn, that managers are not bogged down in fire-fighting and have time available to think about improvements in the context of hoshin targets A visual management tool that highlights the status of operations in an area at a single glance and that signals whenever an abnormality occurs Takt Time The plant is facing a labor shortage that is certain to become more severe every year as the Japanese population falls steadily due to the very low birth rate and the country’s unwillingness to depend on guest workers So eliminating jobs on the line while defending the current workforce is both necessary and easily addressed by not hiring replacements for retirees Finally, the stable workforce — including the frontline production associates — has been trained for many years in troubleshooting (to keep production going with short-term countermeasures), problem-solving (to eliminate repeat problems), kaizen (to raise the production standard), and Jishuken (to learn by doing) The latter is a special type of hands-on, learn-by-doing kaizen workshop designed to develop the skills — especially Toyota Production System and problem-solving skills — of associates within an entire production activity, e.g., a value stream, production line, or department, over an extended period (perhaps three months) The goal of any jishuken is to learn by doing and improving an area of operations In the context of hoshin, managers lead their associates in rethinking and solving problems in every aspect of their work as they strive to achieve their hoshin goal The available production time divided by customer demand For example, if a widget factory operates 480 minutes per day and customers demand 240 widgets per day, takt time is two minutes Similarly, if customers want two new products per month, takt time is two weeks The purpose of takt time is to precisely match production with demand It provides the heartbeat of a lean production system from the Lean Lexicon 5th Edition Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri Now let me introduce the Jishuken team I recently met, working on one portion of the Miyata final assembly line — one of many similar teams on every portion of the line and in other areas across the plant The group leader and the four direct-report team leaders for this portion of the line had worked for three months to redesign every job and improve many pieces of equipment using Karakuri principles (See Matt Savas’ Lean Post, Developing People Not Robots Through Karakuri.) Their objective was to achieve their clearly stated hoshin goal Karakuri The use of simple mechanical devices, such as pulleys and counterweights, to improve processes and conveyance systems while prohibiting the use of hydraulics, robotics, and electricity The lean usage of the term derives from Karakuri puppets, traditional Japanese mechanized puppets Jishuken (I would love to provide the particulars — the substantial reduction in takt time, the minimal capital spend, the positive consequences for quality, all of which were very impressive And I also would love to provide photos of the many ingenious Karakuri devices built by the team But I was at Miyata as a guest to learn, not as a journalist to share the details of their detailed business plans with the world.) A type of hands-on, learn-by-doing kaizen workshop directed by management and designed to develop the skills — especially Toyota Production System and problemsolving skills — of associates within an entire production activity, e.g., a value stream, production line, or department, over an extended period (perhaps three months) The goal of any jishuken is to learn by doing while improving an area of operations The term “jishuken” translated to English means “self-learning.” An explanation of what they had done made a nice presentation in a team room But the Jishuken team’s work really came alive when I visited their portion of the line to see in detail what they had done I have never observed detailed kaizen at this level of intensity (on a production process that was already one of the best in the world) More impressive to me, it was conducted by the front two levels of line management — team leaders and the group leader rather than staff experts — in collaboration with the twenty or so production associates, with an amazing level of engagement They could hardly stop talking about what they had achieved and showing the ingenious, low-cost tools, fixtures, and materials presentation devices they had built and installed Is this cost-reduction effort, enabling an extraordinary range of experiments, enough for a massive legacy company to survive a once-in-a-century disruption? Or is the perceived disruption a misunderstanding of the situation, a mirage? Who knows What I know is that the methods I saw at Miyata for deploying hoshin down to the front lines offer an important lesson for all of us in the Lean Community as we try to cascade our own hoshin plans down to the point of value creation where they become truly useful n These types of efforts have been underway at Toyota facilities across the world for several years as the company continues to build its war chest for the challenge of disruption (See CEO Akio Toyoda’s comments accompanying the release of this year’s financial results on May They are a remarkably sober and focused discussion of Toyota’s circumstances and hoshin plans despite its record sales, earnings, and cash balance.) Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri How Hoshin Kanri Aligns Your Key Organizational Systems But, what a satisfying week for all Why I say this? To build the culture and develop the complementary systems that connect your company’s strategic and operational plans, consider how they must work together, like the human body’s skeletal (hoshin) and muscular (continuous improvement) systems by Mark Reich Recently I spent a week at a prominent organization in the Midwest embroiled in an intense discussion about strategy with 45 of their supply chain group’s executives Everyone involved (up to the CEO) acknowledged the problem and was willing to speak openly about solving it We all spent one morning deeply analyzing the current process for strategic planning and thinking about ways to improve the process The group agreed that they need to start by aligning supply chain processes first (starting with self-reflection) before fully engaging other groups like HR or Product Development How did they come to this conclusion? I’ve been working with this company for a while now It’s taken a couple of years of focused effort to develop a culture of lean thinking on the shop floor where people can bring issues to light, openly discuss problems, and work with their team members to tackle them And, as expected, as we’ve piloted and implemented standardized work and problem-solving, the problems have begun to come to the surface The topic was hoshin, commonly known as “strategy (or policy) deployment,” a process that aligns — both vertically and horizontally — an organization’s functions and activities with its strategic objectives Our focus was on how these executives could work together to strengthen alignment across the organization Everyone agreed that they currently not align corporate goals within their function or across functions (like HR or Product Development) For example, operators struggled to assemble the outer case of the product due to fitting issues caused by the original design The company realized that the work of all (management, engineering, HR) must focus on how to make the process better for the operator You make life better for operators by actively engaging them in improving their How did this misalignment happen? Like so many, executives in this organization are measured against their department or function’s own unique goals, not the organization’s These misplaced performance measures result in conflicting priorities, which stifle the organization’s ability to create value for the customer Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri work and, in so doing, giving them a chance to improve the work of the organization Gemba Walk A management practice for grasping the current situation through direct observation and inquiry before taking action How you build a continuous improvement culture? First, you need some level of top management engagement and drive In this case, the CEO recognized the organizational alignment issues and felt the urgent competitive business need to improve operations through continuous improvement Gemba means “actual place” in Japanese Lean Thinkers use it to mean the place where value is created Japanese companies often supplement gemba with the related term “genchi gembutsu” — essentially “go and see” — to stress the importance of empiricism Next, work with your team members to think about what goals, objectives, and problem-solving opportunities the organization needs to align around Aligning to what problems? You find out what problems to solve by going to the gemba The work on the shop floor brings to light the problems that are getting in the way of the real valueadded work Because value flows horizontally across companies to customers, a productive way to take a gemba walk is to follow a single product family or product design or customer-facing process from start to finish across departments, functions, and organizations, according James Womack, author of Gemba Walks, and founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute Think of hoshin kanri’s (strategy deployment) relationship to the organization like the musculoskeletal system’s is to the human body The body needs a strong skeletal structure, just as an organization needs a hoshin or plan to hold it together But a body can’t move effectively if its muscles (continuous improvement) are not kept active and developed He recommends gathering everyone who touches the process being studied to walk together while discussing purpose (what problem does this process solve for the customer), process (how does it actually work), and people (are they engaged in creating, sustaining, and improving the process) Thus, a gemba walk becomes a way to understand work, lead, and learn When you don’t use or move muscles, they atrophy, and the body becomes weak, not adaptive, and uncompetitive Also, individual muscles can’t move independently; to be effective — to make purposeful movement — they must connect to something, the skeleton, which provides a common purpose that, in turn, helps them work in concert with other muscles In this way, continuous improvement (muscles) and hoshin (skeleton) complement each other when practiced correctly, strengthening the organization (body) What happened with the organization I visited in the Midwest? They saw a huge benefit to “exposing” their misalignment So, as a next step, we’ll organize similar events and discussions in other functions to create a shared awareness horizontally across the organization n from the Lean Lexicon 5th Edition Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri Building the Mindset and Skillset to Improve from the Board Room to the Classroom Board was committed to shifting outcomes, improving culture, building stronger operating systems, and regaining community trust My improvement background was a match for the Board Shared passion kicked off the SDMF journey “… for the first few years, we stopped buying stuff, stopped chasing isolated efforts Instead, we focused our people on what mattered most to success.” A school district superintendent describes how lean thinking and practice transformed a failing district into a nationally recognized model of continuous improvement By Pat Greco In 2018, the Carnegie Foundation recognized the School District of Menomonee Falls (SDMF), located on the northwest side of Milwaukee, as a Spotlight Organization — a model in continuous improvement Ten years earlier, Milwaukee Magazine ranked it as underperforming and high spending I had joined as superintendent in 2011 and, within my first few days on the job, our high school received a second notice as a “school in need of improvement.” As a result, state funding was reduced by $600 per student Improvers know building the mindset and skillset of improvement is not an “initiative.” Instead, this work places the daily work of our human systems as the highest priority and is a critical investment in achieving and sustaining results So, for the first few years, we stopped buying stuff, stopped chasing isolated efforts Instead, we focused our people on what mattered most to success Community faith was shaken Some students performed well, yet we struggled to engage all students to high levels of success Suspension rates were seven times higher than the state average Student participation in advanced coursework was low and failed to represent our student demographics Yet, our spending levels were among the highest in the state We had good teachers and leaders working in a system full of hidden barriers The School Dollars saved were reinvested to unleash the capability of our people at every level The Principles of Organizational Excellence and Evidence-Based Leadership framework (Studer Education) served as our systemic “backbone” to align our goals, work behaviors, and core processes It was critical to be crystal clear on what our community and we valued and develop our people aligned to those values We focused on engaging each member, creating an Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri army of improvers Refined processes defined our “always actions,” increasing the likelihood of follow-through Refined performance management goals tied together tools for self-reflection and criteria for feedback helping people succeed Hardwiring grew as we removed barriers and reduced complexity Clarity with support was key When performance varies, we seek to learn from bright spots and refine core processes Resources (accelerators) are better leveraged based on feedback, performance data, and process refinement, ultimately reducing costs and preventing exhaustion in people department A simple protocol of four questions, when executed well, is exceptionally powerful: What is working well? What barriers are getting in your way; you have the resources needed to your job well? What ideas you have for improvement? Who has been particularly helpful to you that I can thank on your behalf? Leaders rounded with their team members but were not evaluative Rounding is about listening deeply to serve people better, connect beyond their jobs, celebrate what is working well, and remove barriers Finding Strategies to Improve Educational Outcomes Deming and the Lean Community influenced my thinking, followed by decades of cross-industry learning from health care and industry improvement My learning was far from efficient I’ve spent decades cobbling together lessons learned across fields to make sense of the translations to education School systems are filled with dedicated, skilled, student-centered professionals who are critical to student learning, but that’s not enough School districts, typically the largest employers in most communities, are wickedly challenging systems It was critical to avoid the trap of overly complicating the improvement journey Education is littered with organizationally heavy, complicated initiatives that exhaust people, waste resources, and create limited outcomes The investment in the improvement and organizational excellence coaching was critical to shifting culture and improving outcomes for students and staff Our improvement coaches, Dr Janet Pilcher and Dr Robin Largue from Studer Education, worked with our entire leadership team five to six times a year to frame, deploy, and hardwire our 45-day learning cycles In addition, we worked to build an improvement cadence, implement cascaded balanced scorecards, and develop our leaders so they could develop their people As a result, all of our leaders engaged We scaffolded the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) process to students and staff Students and teachers explicitly defined shared missions, standards of work, and how to support and learn together Learning goals and curricular standards were rewritten in student-friendly language Students are now actively engaged in the learning and improvement cycles Beginning in kindergarten, students understand the targets, set individual learning goals, and monitor their growth Students provide feedback on what is working for their learning, share barriers, and work with their teachers every 10 to 15 days to determine the supports they need We worked at every level of our system to listen deeply to our people to “see our system at work.” We deployed “leader rounding” twice a year with every member in every 10 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri Staff members were skilled, from the classroom to the boardroom The Board has adopted policies to sustain continuous improvement as the way to business Staff at every level now live the mindset and skillset of improvement They are empowered to initiate change based on the complexity of the challenge Within their direct work, all staff are encouraged to problem-solve, improve processes, and communicate their improvements “Just it.” If the solution is clear but the project to solve it complex, we deploy a project team with a project charter, milestones, communication systems, and tools If the solution is unknown yet straightforward, we deploy the PDSA process If the problem is complex, impacts many people, and the solution unknown, the improvement team follows the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) process Plan, Do, Check, Act Also known as plan-do-study-act (PDSA) An improvement cycle based on the scientific method of proposing a change in a process, implementing the change, measuring the results, and taking appropriate action (see illustration) It also is known as the Deming Cycle or Deming Wheel after W Edwards Deming, who introduced the concept in Japan in the 1950s The PDCA cycle has four stages: Public schools are critical to improving life chances for 90% of our nation’s students Our daily efforts create a pipeline or roadblock to college, career, and life readiness Our big aims? • All students transition successfully to their college and careers aspirations • All students and families feel they belong in our schools; all students and staff members continue to learn and grow • All students, families, and staff identify SDMF as the place where they choose to learn and work • Plan: Determine goals for a process and needed changes to achieve them • Do: Implement the changes • Check: Evaluate the results in terms of performance • Act: Standardize and stabilize the change or begin the cycle again, depending on the results from the Lean Lexicon 5th Edition buried hassles and obstacles to solve problems and improve outcomes n About the Author: Pat Greco, PhD, Director of Thought Leadership, Studer Education Pat, a recognized leader, consultant, presenter, executive coach, and mentor, has served 38 years in public education, most recently as a superintendent in the School District of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Our journey? We are a fundamentally different organization Results matter, but our human systems require leaders to engage and listen deeply to uncover and eliminate the 11 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri How the Hoshin Kanri Process Coupled with Coaching Drives Lean Transformation, Part kanri (strategy deployment) process, combined with effective coaching, offers companies a way to confront and overcome this challenge; it can be the catalyst for achieving sustainable organizational transformation Understand the Context Before we delve into the synergies generated by combining strategy deployment and executive coaching, context is required The honor of becoming a coach to senior leaders (or anyone else, as a matter of fact) is earned with humility and hard work, regardless of where you sit inside or outside the organization First comes the recognition that we know very little, if nothing at all, and the desire to learn what we not know drives us to study intensely and experiment relentlessly to test our hypotheses Trials will inevitably come with errors, and we must be willing to bear those scars, not hide them The courage to venture into uncharted territory is our ticket to earned respect and the invitation to coach others through their journey A veteran coach shares a few intangible truths you’ll need to know to execute an organizational transformation using hoshin kanri By Laura Mottola Organizational transformation is first and foremost a process of personal growth by leaders, which requires reflection, self-awareness, and humility Before expecting such a dramatic change at the team or organizational level, leaders must deeply reflect on the company’s current state and desired future This reflection inevitably invokes a struggle within every leader, which catalyzes their desire for change, activating the pull needed to take the necessary steps toward that new vision Now comes the matter of leading an organization through a lean transformation and understanding senior leadership’s role in steering and participating in a hoshin process To enlist the active participation of peers and team members, leaders must, above all, gain their trust before helping them to see uncomfortable truths — to stoke the very same struggle within each team member so that they, too, feel the urgent need to change Overcome the Fear of Change I am no psychologist — a recovering engineer, at best — but I have learned, the hard way, indeed, that without intrinsic motivation, there is no catalyst for change, no way to overcome our inherent resistance to change This resistance doesn’t arise from a fear of change itself; it stems from our fear of the unknown of what lies ahead Even the None of this is easy Getting to the point where the need for change is accepted and prompts a coordinated response (aka “change management”) has been and continues to be a stumbling block in countless situations The hoshin 12 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri worst situation ccan become comfortable compared to an alternative that may be worse transformation As significantly, they understood that it is their responsibility to guide and support their team members in their personal growth The process of hoshin kanri demystifies such uncertainty by providing a structured way to walk the path while it is being co-created The approach brings everyone together to design (plan), experiment (do), adjust (check), and act the way forward using the plan, do, check, act (PDCA) process Not all leaders have experience or education about how to coach team members Most likely, they are accustomed to telling their direct reports what to do, sometimes instructing how The hoshin kanri process provides an opportunity to jointly develop a strategy-to-execution roadmap, aligning and adjusting along the way, even when it means “we’ll figure this out together.” It can be an exciting and frightening experience at once, and I cannot downplay the fact that hoshin kanri — or any process to effect transformational change — is an emotionally charged process of co-creation, fraught with obstacles and challenges Hence, executive coaching is vital to support leaders who are engaged in facilitating hoshin kanri These leaders need guidance as they move through this challenging process to help them effectively coach their team members and, in many cases, teach them how to coach others Inevitably, most people I have coached struggled with the mechanics of the practice routine (the Kata) and the time and effort it takes to master this new skill Their desire to attain significant sustainable change is constantly strained by the need to show tangible short-term results The reflex to use tactics that served them well in the past is hard to control, let alone overcome Trust that the hoshin process will yield transformational change if we successfully engage the leaders and, in turn, most of their team members through coaching and collaborative work The energy level generated is palpable, and progress accelerates as people begin to feel their voice heard, the purpose is clearly articulated, and shared understanding is achieved “The process of hoshin kanri demystifies such uncertainty by providing a structured way to walk the path while it is being co-created.” Finally, staying the course during the difficult initial phases of the hoshin kanri process is paramount, making executive coaching even more critical during this time to reinforce the positive signs and inspire confidence in the exercise’s intent and validity Ongoing executive and team member coaching ensures the organization sustains initial gains and establishes a cadence of continuous improvement n The coaching provides leaders with a mirror to reflect upon their effectiveness as enablers of the hoshin kanri transformation process Effective executive coaching heightens leaders’ awareness and understanding of what is happening in the moment It reminds them of their own struggle and how their coach helped them overcome the challenges — and thus, how they can help their team members overcome theirs Develop People Coaching within the hoshin process supports the leader in conducting a hoshin and coaching others in the process In my journey as a lean practitioner, I have had the privilege of supporting executives who are leading a cultural transformation in their respective organizations using lean thinking as a platform for change Fortunately, they all recognized that developing people is the key to 13 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri How the Hoshin Kanri Process Coupled with Coaching Drives Lean Transformation, Part and seek a different way to look at the company and shape its future in a changing environment, hoshin kanri offers a collaborative way to think deeply about the situation, build on common ground, and forge a path forward Make it Personal through Practice Lean transformation of an enterprise requires that all people, at all levels, learn to solve problems collaboratively Executive teams engaged in a hoshin kanri process lead the organization by example, demonstrating the process required to build capability We know that in learning a new skill, there is no substitute for practice When the team members see their leaders “walking the talk,” they become more willing to follow the process Through this consistent practice, both leaders and team members build intrinsic motivation Coaching reinforces this need to practice the process, which, in turn, makes the process personal and ensures it inspires a move to action from within Discover how a coach can help leaders execute a successful organizational transformation using the hoshin kanri process By Laura Mottola While hoshin kanri is a process that provides a structured way to implement change in an organization, coaching strengthens that process by helping leaders and team members adopt the mindset and practices that ensure success Seemingly easy to understand but challenging to achieve, here are five areas where a coach will help leaders execute a successful organizational transformation “Lean transformation of an enterprise requires that all people, at all levels, learn to solve problems collaboratively.” Learn from, Don’t Denigrate, the Past There are many ways to tackle a strategic planning process — each is valid for a specific business context Indeed, the approach that was used in the past had its time and purpose We must learn from that previous process and build on it, not discredit it The hoshin kanri process provides a way to use the knowledge gained from earlier attempts as a platform upon which to build the next iteration When we are dissatisfied with the current state (for whatever reason) Build Trust through Facts Building trust requires the courage to have honest, open communications Generating a certain level of discomfort 14 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri is necessary to shift the conversation to the crux of the matter, exposing sore points and eliciting uneasiness with the status quo without assigning blame Relying on the cold–heartedness of facts to make problems visible allows for an honest, dispassionate analysis of the situation, which, in turn, enables teams to reach a consensus how much you need to learn and commit to doing the hard work and experimentation • Recognize the fear of change for what it is, the fear of the unknown, and how to face it and help others so, as well • Trust that enhancing your team members’ skills and abilities is the key to achieving organizational success, and learn how to facilitate their personal and professional growth • Realize the fundamental differences between the process that led to the current state and how to leverage that knowledge to achieve the desired future state • Understand that learning by doing is essential to build deep understanding through shared experience • Appreciate how focusing on facts builds trust and learn how to shift the conversation back to the facts, reflect, and share back with the team • Acknowledge the difficulties of staying the course, learn how to embrace the process, and commit to self-development n Balance Dissatisfaction with Inspiration The leader facilitating the hoshin kanri process is continually walking a thin line between creating dissatisfaction with the current situation and offering a healthy dose of inspiration with a vision of the future Facilitators of every step in the process must enable the team members to passionately engage so it doesn’t become stale, lifeless They must remind the group to “go hard on the system, but soft on people.” A leader’s role is to support the team in balancing analysis, discovery, ideation, and consensus-building The coach’s role is to support the executive to improve self-awareness and reflection Deploy Strategy, Coach at All Levels Hoshin kanri is a strategy deployment process that links the company True North with execution plans at all levels of the organization Naturally, there is a need for coaching lower levels through the functional deployment of the corporate hoshin in succeeding iterations of collaborative discovery By extending coaching throughout the organization, the experience and knowledge gained during the hoshin process are passed on to others via learning by doing A process brings the hoshin to life and makes it relevant and appealing to all people involved Clarity of purpose and what needs to happen is achieved in cycles of refinement Coaching Helping others develop the problem-solving capability required for implementing lean tools and principles and building a company culture of continuous performance improvement In lean management, the coach avoids telling coachees what to because it robs them of the opportunity to think the problem through for themselves; it deprives them of ownership of the problem; and the coach realizes he or she seldom knows as much about the situation as the problem owner Coach for Personal Growth If transformation comes through personal growth, then the coaching that supports hoshin kanri should focus on helping leaders become teachers and coaches who are committed to both self-development and the development of others Among the most important coaching points are the following: • The coach’s role is to use open questioning to help the coachee become more aware of what he or she knows and needs to know The coach prompts the person being coached to consider if his or her ideas and impressions are based on fact Understand the importance of humility and hard work, and how to be comfortable realizing and admitting from the Lean Lexicon 5th Edition 15 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri Faculty Highlight James (Jim) Womack, PhD Founder and Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute Widely considered the father of the lean movement, Jim has been talking and publishing about creating value through continuous innovation around deep customer understanding for many years He is the coauthor of The Machine That Changed the World (Macmillan/Rawson Associates, 1990), Lean Thinking (Simon & Schuster, 1996), Lean Solutions (Simon & Schuster, 2005), and Seeing The Whole Value Stream (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2011) Other articles include: “From Lean Production to the Lean Enterprise” (Harvard Business Review, MarchApril, 1994), “Beyond Toyota: How to Root Out Waste and Pursue Perfection” (Harvard Business Review, September-October, 1996), “Lean Consumption” (Harvard Business Review, March-April, 2005) Jim received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1970, a master’s degree in transportation systems from Harvard in 1975, and a doctorate in political science from MIT in 1982 (for a dissertation on comparative industrial policy in the U.S., Germany, and Japan) Laura Mottola President and CEO of Flow Partners Inc A seasoned professional mining engineer and business leader with more than 20 years of global experience in mining, Laura is recognized globally as a leader in Lean Mining®, Mining Automation, Technology, and Innovation in the natural resources sector She was named one of the 100 most inspirational women in mining by Women in Mining UK Dedicated to Lean Thinking, Methodology, Lean Mining®, Innovation, development integration of concepts from other industries, and multidisciplinary approach strategies, she is a co-founder of the Lean Institute Canada and the founder of the Lean Mining® Institute Laura holds a Master of Engineering in Mining Automation from McGill University 16 Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Hoshin Kanri Faculty Highlight Mark Reich Senior Coach, Lean Enterprise Institute With 23 years of experience at Toyota, Mark brings a practitioner point-of-view and a roll-up-your-sleeves approach to his coaching, working with executives at their gemba Before joining LEI, he was general manager of the Toyota Production System Support Center While there, he directly implemented the Toyota Production System or managed its implementation in various industries, including automotive, food, furniture, healthcare, and nonprofits, among others Mark started his career at Toyota, including seven as assistant general manager of the corporate strategy division He managed and implemented Toyota’s North American strategic (hoshin) process, designed jointly with Toyota’s Japan headquarters Mark has a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and specialized in Japanese studies at Nanzan University He is fluent in written and spoken Japanese 17 Continue Your Learning The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) offers a wide range of learning resources, all with the practical knowledge you need to sustain a lean transformation: Learning Materials Our plain-language books, workbooks, leadership guides, and training materials reflect the essence of lean thinking— doing They draw on years of research and real-world experiences from lean 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