FUNDAMENTALS

Ohno’s Method
Creating a survival work culture.

Jinichiro Nakane and Robert W. Hall

T
he legacy of the late Taiichi Ohno, "implement techniques" without fully devel-
father of the Toyota Production oping people, their system has no heart.
System (TPS), is much larger than While all lean system techniques are
the system's techniques, none of which he is designed to eliminate waste, they are also
known to have invented himself. During the intended to develop direct action people to
formative period of TPS, roughly 1945-1965, function autonomously, both running
as Toyota fought to survive, Ohno's leader- processes and improving them. That's the
ship instituted a new way of thinking and a real revolution. Pursued vigorously, con-
new work culture. In time it filled all of version to any system like TPS is a life
Toyota, and eventually other companies, changing experience extending far beyond
becoming a culture of excellence, motivated shop floors.
by more than the traditional business goals Aside from manufacturing, in any
of growth and profitability. At its core it industry many of the issues that stymie sys-
remains a survival culture. tem integration, supplier relations, product
Many organizations now emulate TPS design, and so on arise because the human
by borrowing some of the techniques and work culture to do this has not developed.
slightly modifying their culture. Most Ohno pioneered such a culture.
explanations of TPS, underplay the work
culture. However, our Japanese study
Ohno's Method
group, JAPICS, found that all the top practi-
tioners of a TPS- like system had a similar Through mentoring, Taiichi Ohno
culture, one traceable to Ohno, and that the developed other people by challenging
culture-building side of TPS is applicable to them with provocative questions, stimulat-
any kind of business. ing them to improve processes on their
TPS was developed while Toyota was own, and then learning to self-manage
in survival mode, so people had to pull them. His leadership approach is called
together. All the techniques promoted the Ohno's Method.
ability of working personnel to execute To this day, Ohno's original students
kaizen. A working culture centered on refer to "Ohno's Method" of developing
kaizen is not cleanly separable from the people to their fullest. Ohno began devel-
techniques. oping his method around 1945, during
The TPS working culture invests full TPS's formative years, and he continued to
faith and confidence in people doing direct refine it until his death. Ohno was a men-
work. It stimulates them to develop their tor coaching his "students" to become men-
capabilities to the fullest and make maxi- tors in turn. Most of Toyota's TPS leaders
mum use of their talent. If leaders merely can trace their own TPS mentor in a line
6
Target Volume 18, Number 1
back to Ohno. to identify kaizen opportunities. Ohno
Undistinguished as a speaker and cared not a whit for reports or models. To
reluctant as an author, Taiichi Ohno was a improve visibility, his students developed
doer's coach, not a consultant, professor, methods such as 5S and Kanban.
or public advocate, and certainly not a con- Unfortunately, when introduced in the
ventional manager. When young, he was West, 5S was often called "housekeeping." Reality is that
never comfortable in an office, preferring to However, cleanliness and orderliness are no one becomes
be close to the action, in touch with reality. only sub-goals. The main purpose of 5S is to
(Every "factory rat" in the world can relate promote process visibility, that is, to make an expert with
to this.) As he matured, he became a men- kaizen opportunities instantly obvious. magic answers.
tor to Toyota's TPS leaders one on one, or Kanban too is often understood as only
The power is in
in small groups, sending them out to see a production control system, or an invento-
reality, understand it thoroughly, and in ry limit, but its main purpose is also process the method.
turn to develop supervisors and working visibility. The intent would be clearer if
people to improve the processes around these techniques were labeled Instant
them themselves. All of Ohno's students Problem Visibility methods (IPV if you like
remember thinking that they had mastered acronyms).
TPS only to have another penetrating ques- Process visibility reveals problems to
tion send them out to learn more. anyone, not just managers. When some-
Kaizen, the core technique of TPS, thing is amiss, workers can quickly deter-
begins with behavior. Observe carefully to mine the cause and take action. Process
see the facts of a situation. Make maxi- visibility also stimulates everyone to think of
mum use of everyone's brainpower to still more ways to improve it. Thus empow-
devise simple, ingenious solutions to prob- ered by the method, workers learn to self-
lems. TPS culture is this approach to grass manage processes and spontaneously
roots kaizen, which Ohno promoted in improve them.
many ways. Visibility ---- thoughtful visibility ---- is
a tenet of TPS. Empty-headed gawking is
insufficient. Ohno's basic problem solving
Standing in the Circle
method was "to ask why at least five times,"
Ohno coached his budding TPS lead- which means that he didn't ask people to lit-
ers to carefully observe reality by drawing a erally confine themselves to the circle, but to
chalk circle on the floor, telling them to dig through the clutter to see the essential
stand in it for several hours observing real- problem.
ity, mind wiped clean, undistracted by Very small processes, like integrated
things seemingly more important to do. circuit production, cannot be seen directly,
This practice in intensive observation so they are made largely through data and
imbued them in kaizen thinking, which was remote control. But even with fully-gowned
necessary before they could coach others. workers and minute processes, process visi-
Kaizen is the core of TPS. All other bility reveals a remarkable amount of waste.
techniques promote kaizen by maximizing Large dispersed processes cannot be
the number of opportunities to practice it. seen all at once. When flow charting (or
Kaizen is learned primarily by doing; classes Value Stream Mapping) a large process,
merely familiarize people with techniques. people must communicate precisely, or
Developing a few experts helps a little, someone must travel around to see reality.
but the power of kaizen is multiplied many Staying in touch with reality is the important
times if the experts coach everyone else to part. The only way to be sure that a chart is
see and solve problems. Reality is that no up to date is to review the process frequent-
one becomes an expert with magic ly. In large processes, like automotive engi-
answers. The power is in the method. neering change systems, someone is likely
Process visibility, seeing reality, is the to be tinkering all the time, so that at any
primary way to see process problems and instant, no one knows how it really works.

7
First Quarter 2002
 The stand-in-a-circle exercise is good their tasks for themselves, and might not
anywhere, for example, when studying cus- actually follow the instructions.
tomers' evaluation and use of a product. It In time, Ohno saw that thinking about
works on docks, in offices, and everywhere work was the first stage of workers under-
else. taking kaizen. Standard work is the out-
Merely installing visibility tools doesn't come of kaizen. Work instructions merely
accomplish their purpose, staying connected document it. (See the box copy on the next
with reality and remaining curious---- always page.) At a minimum, Toyota workers
asking why and identifying problems. That revise or improve work whenever the
"Standing in a takes constant practice. Although careful schedule changes takt time. Thus "kaizen"
observation can be cultivated into a habit, it ceases to be episodic, done only if a process
circle" is taking is never simple. Toyota veterans know that looks sick, and becomes a routine disci-
the time to when observing a process for the first time, pline. Done in teams, it also the key to
it takes several hours ---- sometimes days --- process visibility.
understand
- to develop an initial grasp of it. (Seeing Today workers and team leaders at
reality nothing happen in many hours may be a Toyota jointly develop "standard work."
before acting. marvelous discovery, not a waste of time.) Since much work is done by teamwork
"Standing in a circle" is taking the time across shifts, both kaizen and its documen-
to understand reality before acting. It is not tation must be coordinated, lest individuals
creating some kind of model, in software or merely improve their own tasks at the
otherwise, and seeing if it works. It also expense of others. The development and
counters the instinct of managers (and oth- documentation of standard work opens
ers) with so strong a bias for action that workers' eyes to processes around them.
they always want to be making something Of course, deviations from standard work
happen ---- even if it is wrong. in use signal a process problem some-
A popular story is that Ohno made top where. But behaviorally, visibility is learn-
executives stand in a circle too, but no one ing to expose processes and problems, and
remembers an instance when he actually learning to share kaizen discoveries ----best
did this. People relish the thought of an methods ----freely.
executive, jerked from a cloistered exis- Rarely are problem exposure and
tence, forced to see how things really work. methods sharing instinctive. A culture to
Ohno primarily "confined" his student TPS do this must be developed by coaching and
leaders to the circle, teaching them how to example.
understand deeply before acting, and how Unfortunately, standard work in this
to teach others to do the same. Constant sense is easily confused with a Taylorist
practice observing reality became a core work standard, or computerized task
value of the new culture. menus. To most managers, the idea that
workers should regularly improve their
own processes, documented by work
Standard Work and
instructions, has been unthinkable. No
Work Descriptions brief label suggests it. Clearer names, such
Soon after beginning work at Toyota, as "Distributed Production Planning" or
one of Ohno's first jobs was writing work "PDCA in Daily Work" have been proposed,
descriptions, forcing him to organize and but they never caught on.
codify what he saw. He personally found Work instructions should be quickly
this so beneficial that he thought that work- interpretable by experienced workers, who
ers should write their own work instructions. are, after all, the primary customers of this
Only they, not he, were in position to con- effort. Real work instructions written by
stantly comprehend the details of work in the doers are seldom showpieces, and sel-
their areas. If a staff person wrote instruc- dom lengthy. They are not paperwork to
tions for them, they missed the opportunity impress inspectors.
to think through the whys and wherefores of In very few Western companies, not
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Target Volume 18, Number 1
 Bsš„”‡„˜‡@w•˜‘LB@k„Œ¡ˆ”L@„”‡@w•˜‘@i”™š˜›†šŒ•”™@
Each time a schedule changes the mix of work or its timing, all workers and team leaders rethink their tasks, improve
them, and adapt them to the new conditions. Process improvement ideas that materialize at other times may be imple-
mented immediately, or bunched together and implemented at a schedule change.

Workers and team leaders identify and overcome their work problems using PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Act. This deriva -
tive of the scientific method promotes kaizen based on facts, so the effort does not degenerate because people argue
contrary opinions. Writing the work instructions and holding to the methods they represent is the final "Act" stage of
PDCA improvement.

"Standard Work" refers to this entire process of routine grass roots kaizen. Once in operation, deviations from standard
work add greatly to process visibility ---- little light bulbs shining on problems for faster, tighter feedback. All TPS lead -
ers agree that standard work is the most time-consuming stage developing a new work culture.

Experienced workers don't need detailed instructions. Procedures common to a plant or department will be understood
and codified elsewhere. No form for recording work instructions is universal, but workers in a plant or location may
use a similar format.

Items to consider for regular workplace kaizen are shown below. Ohno himself originally listed the top three as mini -
mal requirements. 1

Cycle time (of the work, not the takt time developed from a schedule)
Work sequence (of the elements of work)
Standard inventory (parts, tools, or materials at only that location; kanban quantities are between stations)
Quality
Layout
Safety and ergonomics
Environment

even "lean ones," do workers fully engage world. Elements of work are rethought and
in standard work. If they do, it's a sporadic shuffled among stations and people until a
exercise as part of a kaizen event, for new product mix and takt time can be effi-
example, not a regular activity. ciently handled. Sometimes cell layouts
"Standard work" represents the best change within an hour or less. Once work-
process the teams can muster at the time. ers have attained this capability, an assem-
As with any other skill, kaizen becomes bly plant can handle multiple vehicle plat-
rusty if not used. Staying sharp is consid- forms on one line, for instance. That's rare
ered so important that occasionally a plant in other assembly plants.
changes its takt times just to give the work- In an understatement, Ohno noted,
ers practice. Then if the organization sud- "For a worker to write a worksheet that
denly has to change work level or work pat- other workers can understand, he or she
terns, people can respond easily. must be convinced of its importance."2 He
Regular kaizen practice ---- standard might have added that until staff and man-
work ---- makes Toyota factories more flexi- agement are convinced that doers of work
ble than almost any other auto plants in the should perform their own kaizen and docu-
9
First Quarter 2002
 ment it with their own work instructions, assuming that workers are commodities cre-
few workers will be convinced. But when ates animosity, and sometimes unions. The
standard work takes hold, it narrows the commodity tradition is preserved by so
status gap between staff, management, and many common practices, for example, label-
workers. Perhaps that is one reason why it ing people as "direct labor," that managers
is hard for staff and management to get out may be oblivious to the many ways they
of their box and see it. assume that workers have innate limitations.
Changing this attitude begins by real-
izing that only the workers know the details
Improve It Yourself
of how work around them is really done, so
In the early days of TPS, Toyota's pro- enlist their full capabilities. Ohno's TPS
duction volumes were only a few thousand leaders coached supervisors who in turn
per month. Cash flow was anemic; capital coached the workers in the fight against
spending almost nil. Short of almost every- waste. The workers responded. They
thing except people power, the Toyotas learned to rebuild and modify tooling and
wanted to make vehicles in small volumes equipment themselves. A few learned to
at costs that could compete with mass pro- build machines of their own design, often
duction, spending as little as one tenth the from scrap material. TPS allowed them to
capital per unit as the major mass produc- see waste, and gave them a purpose for
ers. To survive, they wanted the breakeven exercising their ingenuity. They became
volume of a plant to be as low as 30 percent autonomous thinkers, not slaves serving
of capacity. When orders were slow, the their machines.
company could survive. If they picked up, Workers' projects generally require
the cash was sorely needed. minimal investment. Staff personnel have
Over the years, Toyota's volumes grew the technology and budget for major proj-
so much that they were tempted many ects, but workers' apparatus is simple and
times to invest big capital based on large low-cost. The culture of do-it-yourself
volume projections. However, Toyota's became the primary capital avoidance ele-
system continues to promulgate capital ment of TPS.
avoidance, epitomized by do-it-yourself One achievement of this tradition
improvement. remained in operation for many years,
After the war, workers came from all Kamigo Engine Plant, first organized into a
over Japan. Many were young, not long out one-piece flow in 1956 using old equipment
of high school, their impressions of how modified and enhanced by the workforce.
work should be done not yet fixed. The For the next 35 years or so, equipment writ-
older workers had become multi-skilled to ten off years earlier was rebuilt, improved,
cope with product variations in low vol- and tweaked. About 160 or fewer people
umes. For example, during the Korean built 1500 four-cylinder engines per day
War, Toyota was saved by suddenly taking with rarely a defect. Nobody beat that per-
on a contract for American military trucks. formance, and Kamigo became a shrine to
The workers had a "can do" spirit, but all simple, do-it-yourself, failsafe methods.
was not well. Today, the Kamigo Plant has shifted to
Sparked by a layoff, in 1952 Toyota more modern technology, but kaizen and
incurred a strike, the first and last in its his- do-it-yourself standard work cycles contin-
tory, and shocking to Toyota management, ue to tune up the machines and the flow
which had an epiphany. From that time between them.
onward, they have regarded workers as To promote regular kaizen, Toyota
"real people," not as commodity labor. production processes are broken into mod-
Ohno followed up by teaching them how to ules so that improvements within one mod-
close the gap between managers and work- ule don't disturb the others. For example,
ers in everyday work. the Kyushu Assembly Plant breaks a line
From the hiring decision onward, into ten modules. One group can experi-
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Target Volume 18, Number 1
ment while others observe. As Ohno put it, Toyota locations and between suppliers
"Innovation begins on one foothill of a big was easy.
mountain." With or without a union, most compa-
Since teamwork is important, do-it- nies have a cultural divide between work-
yourself is somewhat misleading. The ers, staff, and management. When lean
working rule within Toyota is never to manufacturing is introduced, workers fear
change a process by surprise. Try ideas on for their jobs. Once confident on this point,
cool heads first. If co-workers, people they need to become enthusiastic learning
upstream and downstream, and those on to improve processes themselves. If they
other shifts agree that you have a hot idea, sense that management is uncommitted, or
hop to it and make the change. that it bottlenecks improvement, zeal fades.
Do-it-yourself uncorks a major bottle- The plant stagnates at C-Class.3
neck in completing small improvements. If TPS culture is the development of
the realization of worker-initiated process all people to use all their capabilities.
improvement depends on others, they may First-hand workers are familiar with the
be busy or unenthused. Management can details ---- and the reality ---- of processes
stimulate support personnel to give high around them better than anyone far
priority to worker projects, but nothing removed. Well coached, they learn how to
beats having people do it themselves collaboratively adapt and improve them to
whenever they can. That way, little things meet the real challenges of the company.
that refine a process are promptly tended. Using Ohno's Method, leadership is con-
Because these little things add up to some- stantly developing people and leading them
thing big, do-it-yourself remains Toyota's in a common direction.
modus operandi. Ohno's method, using a cascade of
mentor-coaches, appears to be the most
Leadership Based on successful way to create this culture.
Champions mentor leaders who mentor
Ohno's Method
supervisors who coach the first line work-
Ohno's profound innovations in lead- ers ---- in any area, not just production. To
ership are contrary to normal management deeply understand their processes and to
instinct, and at odds with most of the man- personally experience the exhilaration of
agement conventions of the 20th century, kaizen, workers must be more than
whether occurring to managers naturally, or empowered. They must be enthused about
as propounded by business schools. That's process improvement. Not all burst with
why a TPS-like system is difficult to create, pride doing kaizen, but if a critical mass
and once created, difficult to sustain. does, the culture will take hold.
Japanese ethnicity played a very small If the cultural change stagnates, so do
part in developing the TPS work culture. the benefits of TPS. Ideally, people think as
Many Japanese managers have no more they work, and think often about improving
instinct for it than Western ones. Anywhere their work. Of course, no one can do that
on earth, a culture of excellence has to be constantly, but a TPS culture is a thinking
cultivated by constant leadership that stim- culture.
ulates all people to expand what they see The benefits are staggering, but hard
and what they can do, and to collaborate to measure. One of the big ones is opera-
while doing it. tional flexibility, or agility making changes
TPS techniques and TPS culture are with minimum waste. Another biggie is
thought to have spread quickly in the early closing the gaps between management,
years primarily because Toyota's factories staff, and doers. A decade ago, Toyota fum-
and suppliers were concentrated in Aichi bled a bit when it regarded TPS objectives
Prefecture, near Nagoya, in closer proximi- to be only efficiency (cost), quality, and on-
ty than any auto company before or since. time delivery. Then it rediscovered that
Face-to-face communication between concentrating on flexibility and gap closure

11
First Quarter 2002
 is better. Capital expenditure is avoided. Development, Not Control
Market responsiveness becomes a bigger
competitive advantage. At the heart of the conflict between
TPS and orthodoxy is the managerial urge
Constant, aggressive improvement for
to control. By business tradition, managers
high flexibility, high quality, and high effi-
ciency isn't done in a work culture with big make decisions and give orders, and staff
exercises detailed indirect control, using
status gaps among managers, staff, and
budgets, cost systems, schedules, work
workers. Only when everyone is consid-
ered to be a responsible member of the standards, SOPs, menus, job descriptions,
and of course, a hierarchical organization.
company (and expected to be responsible)
Controls provide "accountability" ---- called
can they be coached to think, do, and learn,
extending themselves far beyond skill per- "bureaucracy" when sign-off restrictions
become onerous.
forming a limited set of tasks.
The conflict runs deep. Both in eco-
nomic theory and by law, managers are the
agents of owners, controlling the business
for them. If we have a serious problem with
a company, we expect to talk with top offi-
cials, presuming that they exercise control.
But in a TPS work culture leadership is
development of people. It's not directing
the deployment of the ownership's "assets."
o‹”•G™@mˆš‹•‡@•‰@lˆ„‡ˆ˜™‹Œ– This form of leadership minimizes
conventional controls, putting full confi-
The Method (Very much like Plan-Do-Check-Act)
dence in the development of people, and
1. Mentally force yourself into tight spots (something clearly articulating a strategic direction that
like a gun to the head concentrates the mind). everyone can understand ---- something
more tangible than being the best or mak-
2. Think hard; systematically observe reality.
ing a record profit. Only with clarity of pur-
3. Generate ideas; find and implement wise, ingenious, low-cost pose and unity of spirit will people work
solutions. together enthusiastically, regularly going
4. Derive personal pleasure from accomplishing kaizen. the extra mile.
Second, when leaders inspire and
5 Develop all peoples' capabilities to accomplish steps 1-4. develop the full workforce, they also break
Everyone learns kaizen by doing it. Managers and staff down status barriers and break up bureau-
learn to support workers, proposing only big-step improvements. cracy. Then the staff fears for their jobs, or
They learn not to control self-functioning workers. they simply don't know how to function as
advisors and coaches rather than as exer-
Human-Based Description of TPS with Ohno's Method
cisers of control. Staff and managers need
Problem Visibility as much development as workers.
i Toyota really has two organizations, a
Kaizen Problems formal one to handle the business, and an
i
Look carefully; think hard informal one that self-organizes for process
i improvement and problem solving without
Minimize all waste regard for company rank. Anyone can form
i a group to study or make an improvement.
Gain satisfaction by overall improvements
i Ohno's Method assumes that a com-
Develop everyone's capabilities (mentor them) pany is first and foremost its people, in
i opposition to the usual assumption that a
Develop flexibility (ability to quickly and easily respond to changes) company is a mechanism, needing capital,
i
Long-term survival generating cost, and attracting revenue. In
a money-making machine controlled by

12
Target Volume 18, Number 1
management, workers merely operate sys- No Staff Control of Improvement
tems or machines, staff people ---- thinkers
When a company "goes lean," the tra-
presumed higher in status ---- design or pro-
dition of managerial control is easily trans-
gram machines (and systems). Ohno's
ferred to process improvement. If staff or
Method assumes that machines and sys-
specialists generate and implement most of
tems should serve the people, their mas-
the ideas, worker "empowerment" is gener-
ters, not the other way around.
ally limited to concurrence. They are not
By itself, grass roots kaizen is far from
personally and deeply into see-it-yourself,
enough to be competitive. New markets,
do-it-yourself kaizen.
new technology, new types of equipment,
One sign of this is overly neat or graph-
and new product lines are from the staff.
ically embellished problem-solving records.
But their "Big Step" innovations go much
Workers' problem solving is typically done
more smoothly when refined and sustained
by hand on white boards or flip charts.
by small-step, grass roots standard work.
Another sign is work layouts fixed for
By personally learning to see reality,
long periods of time, whether on shop floors
and to refine processes by do-it-yourself
or in offices. Then implementing a change is
kaizen, "professionals" ground all other
a "big project." If everything is "on wheels,"
company programs in reality too. Product
easily reconnected to utilities, working peo-
and process designers better grasp process
ple can quickly try different ideas.
realities. Intelligent software packages and
other models don't fully substitute for this.
They depend on data that has to be updat-
ed too, just like process flow charts.
Grounding in reality does much to prevent
major projects from being unrealistic, or as
Toyota managers phrase it, "No big gap
between plan and action."
Ohno's Method leads to organizing Summary of Lessons from Ohno's Method 5
around people and process flows, or
around problem seeing and problem solv- 1. Besides the techniques employed, kaizen minimizes all
ing, rather than for control. Support people kinds of waste by developing the capabilities and talent of all
stay as close to the direct action as they people for see-it-yourself, do-it-yourself improvement.
can. By that thinking internal processes are
organized so that they link suppliers to cus- 2. Kaizen is integrated into overall operations by standard work.
tomers as directly as possible. Small and
simple is beautiful. The bigger the organi- 3. Develop process techniques to promote integrative kaizen
zation becomes, the harder to maintain this and standard work.
ideal, so the usual countermeasure is to
4. Management's role is leadership developing all the people to
organize many small, nearly autonomous
autonomously work toward common ends.
operating units within a big umbrella
organization.
5. Strive for a targeted ideal system. However, conditions
Development of first-line people to run
change. All systems are transient, so people and systems
and to improve processes autonomously
must be flexible and adaptive, not just "optimal."
creates a robust organization well beyond
the shop floor. Military organizations call 6. The basic TPS culture with kaizen and standard work can
this readiness, a result of what everyone apply to any kind of organization ---- business, government, or
can do, not just a skilled few. Toyota prac- non-profit.
tices readiness, measured indirectly: excel-
lence by the usual measures, plus the abili- 7. The work culture is motivated by mutual survival and an
ty to turn on a dime, or flexibility ---- being appreciation for excellent work in itself. Financial returns
prepared to deal efficiently with a variety of may be tremendous, but they are a result, not a goal.
changes.
13
First Quarter 2002
 In repetitive work, a sign of grass roots Everywhere, when collectively in deep
kaizen deficiency is line balance. The trouble, old ways obviously not working,
average worker often has 40-50 percent and no point left in protecting anyone's sta-
slack time to look around or do other tus quo, people set aside their differences.
things. Staff-led kaizen may decrease slack Several lean stories in Target arose from a
time by 10-20 percent. The work pace may desperate situation.6
not be faster, but the intensity of concen- When money rolls in, a survival men-
tration increases, and workers object. If tality fades; people without the survival
they have removed the wasted time them- experience reason that everything must be
selves, not only are they less likely to going along nicely, and start to talk about
object, but remove an additional 10-20 per- "winning and growing." Interest fades in
cent of slack time besides. They are being operations, much less total human devel-
treated as "real people." 4 opment, until the next crisis.
Probably the most telling sign of staff Normal business "incenting" isn't com-
control is that workers or teams do not patible with Ohno's Method. A collective
write their own instructions. "Yellow" work survival mentality is. To do what they have
instructions, written by non-workers, are never done before, people need a genuine,
the telltale sign that standard work hasn't intrinsic conviction of the need for excellent
arrived. Workers are minimally involved. work ---- motivation beyond mere profits and
Staff control of improvement (includ- paychecks. At Toyota, the quest for a supe-
ing kaizen blitzes) appears to arise when rior performance culture continues.7
process improvement results, nicely meas-
ured, become important to staff/manage- Culture change never goes completely
ment status. Staff may fear "looking bad," as planned. New work cultures emerge
"looking stupid," or "just being a worker's because leaders live them and demonstrate
assistant." them. Ohno's Method, with its mentoring
By Ohno's Method, status accrues by cascade of see-it-yourself, do-it-yourself, is
evidence that leaders have done a great job one of the practical ways it has been done,
of mentoring and coaching. The process and there is nothing artificial about it.
may not at present win any performance Creation of a new culture goes hand-in-
awards, but if the entire workforce ---- every hand with creation of grass roots kaizen
person in the headcount ---- is well practiced and standard work. Both are dependent on
in process improvement, and if they can a different philosophy of business.
clearly see how the company needs to
change or improve, the likelihood is great
Footnotes:
that they will survive.
1. Ohno, Taiichi, Toyota Production System,
Productivity Press, Portland, OR, 1987, p. 22. This
An Excellence Culture is a work was originally written in Japanese and pub-
Survival Culture lished by Diamond, Inc., Tokyo, in 1978.
When TPS was in the making, Toyota,
constantly near bankruptcy, was motivated 2. Ohno, Taiichi, Toyota Production System,
by survival. (Late in his life, a British jour- Productivity Press, Portland, OR, 1987, p. 21.
nalist for The Economist asked Ohno why
TPS developed. Ever a crusty shop man, he 3. See "The ABCs of Excellence," Target, Vol. 17,
said it was "the last fart of the ferret." When No. 3, Third Quarter, 2001, pp. 6-13.
a ferret is cornered, it emits a powerful
stench, something like a skunk.) 4. Rinehart, Huxley, and Robertson; Just Another
More than money motivated people. Car Factory? Cornell University Press, 1997. This
With survival at stake, within Toyota the book describes the lean system at CAMI, the GM-
inspiration to develop TPS has been Suzuki joint venture in Canada, from the workers'
described as "fighting a war." perspective. This plant took a strike by the

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Target Volume 18, Number 1
Canadian Auto Workers in 1992, partly because of 7. See "Creating Competitive Advantage Through
lean manufacturing. Reading the book, manage- Ba," By Jinichiro Nakane and Scott Meza, Target,
ment obviously did not understand Ohno's Method, Vol. 17, No. 2, Second Quarter, 2001, pp. 6-14.
and so viewed lean manufacturing mostly as tech-
niques, and a different way to control a plant. The
workers were not scrupulously following work Jinichiro Nakane is Professor of Operations
instructions, much less participating in standard Management at the Graduate School of Business,
work. They mostly went along with the program Waseda University, Tokyo. He knew Ohno person-
and disliked removal of slack time because it ally and has long worked with TPS and has studied
required more intense concentration. the system during its formative period.

5. From a summary of Ohno's papers and speech- Robert W. Hall is editor-in-chief of Target and a
es in Shop Floor Management: Gemba Keiei, Nihon founding member of AME.
Norisku Kyokai, 2001 (in Japanese).

6. An example of lean methods being developed

from scratch under the production pressures of © 2002 AME® For information on reprints, contact:
Association for Manufacturing Excellence
World War II is "The Production Runs of the 380 West Palatine Road
Century," by Bill Vogt, Target, Vol. 15, No. 1, First Wheeling, IL 60090-5863
847/520-3282
Quarter, 1999, pp. 9-21. The difference is that
www.ame.org
Toyota developed a lasting mind set from its period
of distress. Boeing regressed.

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15
First Quarter 2002