Comments on: The Toyota Way? http://www.balance-and-results.com/the-toyota-way.html Effectiveness in Human Resources, Leadership and Personal Success Strategies Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:50:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dave Crisp http://www.balance-and-results.com/the-toyota-way.html/comment-page-1#comment-280 Dave Crisp Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:31:51 +0000 http://www.balance-and-results.com/?p=55#comment-280 Hi Sven, To try to understand your question further, I checked your twitter page, but couldn't seem to find any items, so I'm not sure what aspect of this post you were asking about. The general answer is that I've done a great deal of reading of research and case studies over 30 years or so, plus applied these principles to my own teams while a senior executive of large organizations... and experienced both the success of using them and the frustration of trying mostly unsuccessfully to encourage others to follow such processes. I know from experience how difficult it is to get people to see these strategies, which I now have tried to simplify and spread. I'm happy to respond further if you like. Hi Sven,
To try to understand your question further, I checked your twitter page, but couldn’t seem to find any items, so I’m not sure what aspect of this post you were asking about.

The general answer is that I’ve done a great deal of reading of research and case studies over 30 years or so, plus applied these principles to my own teams while a senior executive of large organizations… and experienced both the success of using them and the frustration of trying mostly unsuccessfully to encourage others to follow such processes. I know from experience how difficult it is to get people to see these strategies, which I now have tried to simplify and spread. I’m happy to respond further if you like.

]]> By: Dave Crisp http://www.balance-and-results.com/the-toyota-way.html/comment-page-1#comment-13 Dave Crisp Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:18:06 +0000 http://www.balance-and-results.com/?p=55#comment-13 Thanks Craig, You comment is insightful. The tendency to follow what the current industry leader is doing seems very widespread - hire their CEO and staff, copy their bonus plans and steal their latest process improvements all seem to rate high on many companies' "to do" lists. You're right that when you follow Toyota's approach you become increasingly different from competitors rather than more similar. You figure out what works for you, what makes you unique and what satisfies YOUR customers best instead of hoping you can take someone else's customers by beating them at a game they know better than any outsider can learn to mimic. Thanks Craig,

You comment is insightful. The tendency to follow what the current industry leader is doing seems very widespread – hire their CEO and staff, copy their bonus plans and steal their latest process improvements all seem to rate high on many companies’ “to do” lists.

You’re right that when you follow Toyota’s approach you become increasingly different from competitors rather than more similar. You figure out what works for you, what makes you unique and what satisfies YOUR customers best instead of hoping you can take someone else’s customers by beating them at a game they know better than any outsider can learn to mimic.

]]> By: Craig Allen http://www.balance-and-results.com/the-toyota-way.html/comment-page-1#comment-12 Craig Allen Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:43:29 +0000 http://www.balance-and-results.com/?p=55#comment-12 Hi Dave, A great piece! The Toyota Way sounds like a systematic and long-term way of choosing your own path. It's a blueprint for creativity that builds capability. Reinforcing this is a piece I just saw in an weekly insurance magazine. This piece warns against slavishly emulating this year's market leader - and illustrates how wasteful and demoralizing that approach can be. In effect, we see why the Toyota Way is the way to go. "Many insurers have their attention fixed on the company that is currently generating the greatest return on investment. This approach to management is flawed. The company actually generating the greatest return constantly changes. By simply following the company that is currently on top, a culture of inconsistency is fostered and perpetuated. This inconsistency within the corporate culture of the 'follower' company frustrates the natural ingenuity and creativity of that organization. Therefore, all the 'follower' can do is follow. The 'follower' company has not done anything to foster its own creativity and ingenuity. It becomes dependent on the rest of the industry for new ideas. If every company in the industry is a follower, the best we will ever have is a circle of outfits moving in place and never being innovative." Hi Dave,

A great piece! The Toyota Way sounds like a systematic and long-term way of choosing your own path. It’s a blueprint for creativity that builds capability.

Reinforcing this is a piece I just saw in an weekly insurance magazine. This piece warns against slavishly emulating this year’s market leader – and illustrates how wasteful and demoralizing that approach can be. In effect, we see why the Toyota Way is the way to go.

“Many insurers have their attention fixed on the company that is currently generating the greatest return on investment. This approach to management is flawed.

The company actually generating the greatest return constantly changes. By simply following the company that is currently on top, a culture of inconsistency is fostered and perpetuated.

This inconsistency within the corporate culture of the ‘follower’ company frustrates the natural ingenuity and creativity of that organization. Therefore, all the ‘follower’ can do is follow.

The ‘follower’ company has not done anything to foster its own creativity and ingenuity. It becomes dependent on the rest of the industry for new ideas. If every company in the industry is a follower, the best we will ever have is a circle of outfits moving in place and never being innovative.”

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