While a huge volume of literature exists concerning Toyota Motor Corp.

’s production system,
far less has been said about the way the company manages people to develop and maintain a
culture of continuous organisational learning.
As with the RATIO model, Toyota has developed a way to solve problems that generates
knowledge and helps people doing the work learn how to learn. Company managers use a
model called the A3 (named after the international paper size on which it fits) as a means to
widely share the deep level of thinking that lies at the heart of Toyota’s sustained success.

Toyota's 4P Management Model

A3s are deceptively simple.

An A3 is composed of a sequence of steps (seven in most examples) arrayed in a single

template.
The principles are simple but, as with most things, the devil is in the details and this is where
the RATIO methods can help you greatly. As you will see if you do a Google search about
the A3 model, the content of A3 templates varies greatly with only one obvious common
denominator, the visualisation of the problem resolution process. Since Event Mapping was
designed as a visual communication tool from the outset, it can help you greatly to
materialize the different steps of the A3 problem solving model.
 Toyota's 7 step pratical problem solving process

 A3 step (what we do)
 1. Initial Problem Perception: establish the business context and importance/impact of a specific
problem or issue
 2. Clarify the problem: describe the current situation and the conditions of the problem
 3. Locate point of cause: establish priorities among linked problems and determine approach
 4. Analysis: analyse the problem to establish causality and find root causes
 5. Propose countermeasures: develop and choose actions
 6. Evaluate: insure actions are successfully implemented
 7. Standardize: map out the follow-up process

 RATIO steps & methods (how to do it)

 Reflect : Event mapping
 Reflect : Event mapping, Pareto, Timeline
 Reflect : Event mapping
 Analyse : Problem Analysis, Human Factor Analysis, Event Mapping
 Target : Decision Analysis, Event Mapping
 Implement : Risk Analysis, Event Mapping
 Observe : Event Mapping

Continuous Organisational Learning.

However, RATIO and A3 reports — and more importantly the underlying thinking — play more
than just a practical role; they also embody a more critical core strength of a lean company.
A3s serve as mechanisms for managers to mentor others in root-cause analysis and
scientific thinking, while also aligning the interests of individuals and departments throughout
the organization by encouraging productive dialogue and helping people learn from one
another.
The ultimate goal is not just to solve the problem at hand, but to make the process of
problem solving transparent and teachable in a manner that creates an organization full
of thinking, learning problem solvers.