Summary of The Last Three Principles (12, 13, 14) of the Toyota Way

The Toyota Way has been called "a system designed to provide the tools for people to
continually improve their work". The Toyota way is a set of principles and behaviors that
underlie the Toyota motor corporation’s managerial approach and production system. Toyota
first summed up its philosophy, values and manufacturing ideas in 2001, calling it “The Toyota
Way 2001”.

Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning

Principle#12
Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu).
Toyota managers are expected to "go-and-see" operations. Without experiencing the situation
firsthand, managers will not have an understanding of how it can be improved. Furthermore,
managers use Tadashi Yamashima's (President, Toyota Technical Center (TCC)) ten
management principles as a guideline:

Always keep the final target in mind.

Clearly assign tasks to yourself and others.
Think and speak on verified, proven information and data.
Take full advantage of the wisdom and experiences of others to send, gather or discuss
information.
Share information with others in a timely fashion.
Always report, inform and consult in a timely manner.
Analyze and understand shortcomings in your capabilities in a measurable way.
Relentlessly strive to conduct kaizen activities.
Think "outside the box," or beyond common sense and standard rules.
Always be mindful of protecting your safety and health.

Principle 13
Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions
rapidly (nemawashi).
The following are decision parameters:
Find what is really going on (go-and-see) to test, determine the underlying cause, consider a
broad range of alternatives, build consensus on the resolution and use efficient communication
tools.

Principle 14
Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous
improvement (kaizen).
The process of becoming a learning organization involves criticizing every aspect of what one
does. The general problem solving technique to determine the root cause of a problem includes:
Initial problem perception, clarify the problem, locate area/point of cause, investigate root cause
(5 whys), countermeasure, evaluate and standardize.