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“Managing to Learn builds a picture of what a true
leader in action looks like, in such a way that’s easily
understandable and can translate into real behavioral change -- a
lofty goal, indeed! At Textron, we recently started exposing people
to A3 thinking. I can’t remember any other time in Textron’s
continuous improvement journey, where something has spread like
wildfire with so little “fanning of the flames.” I can see where
the holistic approach to A3s shown in Managing to Learn can
translate into a complete cultural change leading to the elusive
‘learning organization’ that we all aspire to become.” -
D. Lynn Kelley, Ph.D., Vice President, Textron Six Sigma.
" In this book, John Shook introduces the management
processes he learned while we worked alongside each other as young
Toyota managers in Japan in the 1980s. John worked on an equal
footing with his Japanese colleagues and understands the management
systems of Toyota as few Americans ever have. I believe the
management and work practices that John introduces in this bookwill
be of great benefit to anyone who gives them serious study and a
try. -Shigeru Hayakawa, President, Toyota North America.
"Managing to Learn by Toyota veteran John Shook, reveals
the thinking underlying the vital A3 management process at the
heart of lean management and lean leadership. Constructed as a
dialogue between a manager and his boss, the book explains how “A3
thinking” helps managers and executives identify, frame, and then
act on problems and challenges. Shook calls this approach, which is
captured in the simple structure of an A3 report, “the key to
Toyota’s entire system of developing talent and continually
deepening its knowledge and capabilities.”
The A3 Report is a Toyota-pioneered practice of getting the
problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, and the action plan
down on a single sheet of large (A3) paper, often with the use of
graphics. “The widespread adoption of the A3 process standardizes a
methodology for innovating, planning, problem-solving, and building
foundational structures for sharing a broader and deeper form of
thinking that produces organizational learning deeply rooted in the
work itself,” says Shook, who 10 years ago co-authored Learning
to See, a groundbreaking LEI publication that taught
readers how to map value streams to identify and eliminate waste.
Learning to See has sold more than 173,000 copies and been
translated into 12 languages.
Management expert James Womack, Ph.D., LEI founder and chairman,
predicts Managing to Learn will have as deep an impact on
the way lean companies manage people as Learning to See had
on managing processes. “Readers will learn an underlying way of
thinking that reframes all activities as learning activities at
every level of the organization, whether it’s standardized work and
kaizen at the individual level, system kaizen at the managerial
level, or fundamental strategic decisions at the corporate
level.”
A unique layout puts the thoughts of a lean manager struggling to
apply the A3 process to a key project on one side of the page and
the probing questions of the boss who is coaching him through the
process on the other side. As a result, readers learn how to write
a powerful A3—while learning why the technique is at the core of
lean management and lean leadership.
Who Benefits
Executives and managers at all levels in the organization will
benefit from the book. An A3 can be used wherever there is a need
for people to work together to get clarity on a problem or proposal
and then to create a set of realistic and effective
countermeasures. A3s can be prepared by individuals, teams, or any
leader and his or her report.
Related Books
 Learning
to See
Author: Mike Rother and John Shook
ISBN: 0-9667843-0-8
Number of Pages: 112
List Price: A$80.00 inc. GST |
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Getting
the Right Things Done
Author: Pascal Dennis
ISBN: 0976315262
Number of Pages: 232
List Price: A$64.00 inc. GST |
Author: John Shook
Publisher: Lean Enterprise Institute
ISBN: 978-1-934109-20-5
Number of Pages: 138
List Price: A$80.00 inc. GST
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