An Approach to Becoming Agile in a Dynamic World

Mike Rother wrote an article this summer in AME's Target magazine. The article, “An Approach to Becoming Agile in a Dynamic World,” focuses on helping employees develop scientific thinking that helps them to better solve problems and make decisions.

What he proposes is that developing a scientific way of thinking among the members of a team may be a prerequisite for effectively increasing their empowerment and leading to a more Agile organization. These are skills that prepare teams for more independent but strategically-aligned decision making, and prepare managers to function more as coaches. 

Scientific thinking is not difficult. The barrier is that it does not come naturally to us. The default way we think about problems and goals involves the unconscious part of our brain taking bits of surface information, quickly jumping to conclusions and giving us a false sense of confidence. He feels certain, and that’s when we start making mistakes. 

A key strength of Toyota is that its management process develops scientific- thinking skill and mindset in its people. At this point you have probably heard of “Toyota Kata.” Based on Mike’s research on Toyota’s management system, Toyota Kata is a way of developing scientific-thinking skill and mindset in any team or organization, through practicing something called “Starter Kata.” Toyota Kata doesn’t teach problem solving, but rather a scientific mindset that makes us more effective at problem solving.

To learn more read Mike's complete article on AME's website.

Sometime the best way to learn is first hand. AME is offering a unique opportunity to participate in hands-on Kata training to gain a deep understanding of how you can experiment your way forward instead of having to decide your way forward. Researcher and author Mike Rother will run a hands-on exercise that introduces the scientific-thinking pattern of the Improvement Kata. After this session, you will be able to run and use the exercise yourself.