Successful organisational problem solving is difficult, but I believe that great lessons can be learnt from re-examining how Toyota turns it's workers into problem solvers, and what this could mean for your organisation.

In their seminal work Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System, Steven Spear and Kent Bowen ( HBR Sept-Oct 1999) aimed to find the essence of what TPS is and why it has been difficult for observers of Toyota to copy their successful system. They concluded that observers confuse the tools and practices they see on their plant visits with the TPS system itself. That makes it impossible for them to resolve the apparent paradox of the system. The system grew naturally out of the workings of the Toyota company over more than five decades…it has never been written down, and Toyota’s workers often are unable to articulate it. Spear and Bowen concluded that TPS essence is 4 unwritten “Rules in Use” that Toyota follow despite them not being written down.

I will focus on the rule that relates to Improvement and Problem Solving. The rule is very simple but that does not necessarily mean it is easy.  The rule as stated by Spear & Bowen is that:

“All problems are solved at the lowest possible level using the scientific method under the guidance of a coach.”

Let us break this down to its elements see what this means:

Solved at the lowest possible level means that those responsible for the work where the problem exists are the ones that are involved in the problem solving. It means that marketing managers and marketing teams solve marketing problems but equally the shopfloor solve shopfloor production problems.

What does using the scientific method for problem solving mean?

It means that problems are solved by using experiments based grasping the situation by direct observation of the problem , establishing a hypothesis upfront  to solve the problem, with  declaring expectations of the result of the experiment before it is run. Quickly conducting the experiment and comparing the results  to the predefined expectations and reflecting to learn from what was achieved – a true PDCA cycle.

How about what is meant by the guidance of a coach?

Toyota place tremendous emphasis on teaching everyone how to be a skilful problem solver. Further, Toyota teach people to solve problems by actually solving problems – true experiential learning. After learning how to do their work for which they were responsible, the new Toyota employee learns how to immediately identify problems that occurred as they did their work. Then they learn how to do sophisticated RCA ( root-cause analysis ) to find the underlying conditions and develop counter-measures — effective changes in work, tool, product, or process design—that would remove the problem.  They are guided through this process by a skilled experienced problem solver – usually the team leader, or supervisor or manager, who coach the worker through the problem solving. This requires that the team leader or supervisor not only has excellent problem solving skills but that they are excellent coaches, skilled and capable of teaching problem solving skills in a directed, learn-by-doing fashion. The coaches themselves have learnt these skills because they have been taught this way themselves and learnt from their prior coaches.

What does this all mean for our own organisations if we truly want to copy Toyota’s excellent problem solving practices that have enabled them to have the reputation for sustained quality and low cost?

Some questions for reflection:

Who are your problem solving coaches in your organisation?

Do they have both the problem solving skills? Do they follow the scientific method for problem solving? Do they have the coaching skills?

If not, how do you develop these?

How do your workers recognise they have a problem?

Do you have standards that when not met clearly identify for a worker that a problem has occurred? Do your workers have standard work?

Do they have time available to practice solving problems ? Are they encouraged or discouraged to stop the work to solve problems affecting the work?

Let me know your thoughts on where your organisation sits and what is the best way to progress.

Again while the rule is simple to understand like most things LEAN the art is in the execution.

If you would like to improve your teams problem solving capability , SIRF runs a number of excellent practical problem solving courses that provide experiential learning in solving real life work place problems for attendees.

28/07/20 RCA Rt 5 Whys A3 | Intermediate Root Cause Analysis 2 online sessions

04/08/20 RCA Rt 12 Steps | Advanced Root Cause Analysis 6 online sessions       

Brian Niven

OERt VicTas State Manager