Gist from the David Magee’s Best seller book “HOW TOYOTA BECAME # 1
The Leadership lesions from the world’s greatest car company
Diligently Apply to the Right Pursuits.
Toyota may be the world’s leading automobile manufacturer, but the company Se is about far more than cars. What exactly attributes to this success saga. There are many pieces that comprise Toyota, from applications to management philosophies to products, combine to create a growth machine that is remarkable consistent. Toyota started out as a family company. Still continuing the great legacy.
THE ORIGINAL TOYODAY PRECEPTS (1935)
- Be contributive to the development and welfare of the country by working together, regardless of position, in faithfully fulfilling your duties.
- Be ahead of the times through endless creativity, Inquisitiveness, and pursuit of improvement.
- Be practical and avoid frivolity.
- Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm, homelike atmosphere.
- Be reverent, and show gratitude for things great and small in thought and deed.
- Commit to what matters most.
- Continually seek self improvement that benefits him and others.
- Be willing to improve.
STRIVE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures. Even last month’s manual should be out of date.
Talichi Ohno, former Toyota executive vice President.
Toyota’s patented method of manufacturing, known as the Toyota’s production system (TPS) This method aims to improve product quality and profitability through creative employee contributions. TPS emphasizes three key
Philosophies: *Customer first, *Employee satisfaction and *Company stability.
Objectives of TPS: *Highest quality, *Lowest cost and *Shortest lead time.
Eiji Toyoda’s philosophy on what it takes to be a leader: * Creativity,* Resourcefulness, *Wisdom and hard work.
Effective Kaizen relies on three principles: *Process and results (not just results), *Systematic thinking (seeing the big picture), and Non-blaming (blame is wasteful)
IMPLEMENT AT ALL LEVELS. “If you are going to be a leader at Toyota,” says Convis, “you must always be working on day- today excellence.”
How to implement Toyota’s kaizen culture in the workplace:
* Identify trouble,
*Determine the root cause, and
* Develop a solution.
“Ultimately,” says Cuneo, “the Toyota system is teaching people to think (for) themselves and find a better way to do the job… to take individual ownership.” Convis garner, Toyota’s Executive vice President who got tremendous respect from his employees. He gets this respect not as a result of his position of authority but because of his knowledge, experience and willingness to literally roll up his sleeves and assess problems. Says Convis: “You respect people. You listen to them, you work together.
DON’T GIVE OTHERS REASON TO DOUBT.
RID ALL THAT ADDS NO VALUE.
“A place for everything, and everything in its place. said Samuel smiles, author, Self-Help.
The bottom line at Toyota: If a process or an activity does notadd value, get rid of it.
IMPROVE QUALITY BY EXPOSING THE TRUTH.
Whether they are in manufacturing production or administrative processes, defects cannot be eliminated unless their causes are properly and thoroughly identified at the source.
-Speak up immediately when problems are recognized, matter what
-Ask why (at least five times), to reach the root cause.
-Go to the source of the problem and see for yourself.
Once a problem or root cause is identified, decision makers must go to the source and see it firsthand for themselves so it can be quickly and effectively solved.
RAISE THE BAR TO UNREACHABLE HEIGHTS.
Consumers always like pleasant surprises. Giving the customer more than they expect is the best advertising a company can do.
Favor Long-Term Strategies over Short-Term Fixes. “Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step. – Samuel Smiles, author, Self help.
‘Learn the Customer, Live the Customer and Empathize with the customer’ says Jim Press, former President. Toyota Motors.
We make things everybody thinks we should make’.- K. Watanabe, President, Toyota Motor corp.
Take Time to Study, then implement with Speed. ‘When the decision is made to act, we move fast in execution because everyone is already fully bought in and in accord.’ – Jim Press, former President. Toyota Motors.
How to move faster with thorough decision making:
*Gather facts Firsthand.
*Take a holistic approach employing cross-functional teamwork.
*Keep the customer at the forefront of decisions.
*Progress simultaneously from fact-based platforms.
Let Failure be Your Teacher. “It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, Study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done. Samuel Smiles, author, Self Help.
View Change as an Opportunity to Learn. Plan Big, Execute small. The world’s greatest structures were build one stone at at time, just as a vehicle is assembled one part at a time..
Manage Like You Have No Power.
If employees just did what they were told to do, you would continually find defects at the end of the line. We want employees to go beyond what they are told and be creative, building a quality into the processes’. Mitsuo kinoshita, Toyota executive vice president.
To be a great leader, one has to be more of a facilitator than a dictator. Distribute Authority Widely.
Strive for Lean, Avoid Bureaucracy.
Carefully Cultivate and Support Partners. Reinforce Culture Through Deep and Thorough teaching. The support of Toyota’s employees begins at the company’s highest level. According to Toyota’s philosophy of respect, all employees are called upon to help one another and share their knowledge and experience, whether it’s in their job descriptions or not.
The Power of paranoia. ‘I feel that being successful may make us arrogant and want to stay in a comfort zone. That is the threat.-K. Watanabe, president, Toyota Motor Corp.
- Approach your job from the perspective that good news can wait.
- Ask yourself: what can we do to get better?
- Avoid complacency.
- Come to work every day like it is your first.
- Jim Press, President, Toyota Motors says: Work for the Right Reasons. Our goal is to… make life easier.’
Doing the right things at the office each day requires little more than asking simple questions:
- How can we best serve customers?
- How fulfilled are employees?
- How are we contributing to quality of life?
- What is our impact on the environment?
