Book notes: Level Up Agile with Toyota Kata
Tags: books, retrospectives
Published: 2021-02-17 07:23:34

---
title: Book notes: Level Up Agile with Toyota Kata
published: true
tags: books, retrospectives
canonical_url: https://danlebrero.com/2021/01/06/level-up-summary/
cover_image: https://danlebrero.com/images/blog/books/level-up/level-up-agile-with-toyota-kata.jpg
series: Book notes
description: Book notes on Jesper Boeg's "Level Up Agile with Toyota Kata"
---

Unable to make sense of the [Toyota Kata Practice Guide book](https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Kata-Practice-Guide-Practicing/dp/1259861023), I decided to pick up [Jesper Boeg](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesperboeg/)'s [Level Up Agile with Toyota Kata](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NV11YJ8/).

Jesper makes Toyota Kata more relatable to IT and it accommodates for the differences between manufacturing and software development. 

As a big plus, it contains 80 pages with examples. A great resource for understanding and getting started.

If you are looking for a more structured explanation of how to apply Toyota Kata read [Continuous improvement with Toyota Kata](https://dev.to/danlebrero/continuous-improvement-with-toyota-kata-14po)

# Key Insights

* Toyota Kata is a process improvement process:
    * 10-20% time on improvement work.
    * Applied at the team level:
        * End-to-end cross functional teams.
        * Stable teams are essential.
    * It is expected that you will change it as you get familiar with it.
    * Does not replace retrospectives.
* Learning is maximized when there is a 50/50 chance of failure (REINERSTEN, 2009).
* Process improvement is the primary reason the manager role exists.
* Vision:
    * Focus on what you want, not in what you dont want.
    * Process Vision != Process outcome.
    * Tool, role and practice free.
* Choose metrics that can be measured frequently:
    1. Allow for more experiments.
    1. Culture of continuous improvements.
    1. Be conscious of the time spent automating them.
* We tend to drastically overestimate the number of problem that stand in the way of our goals.
* Do not recommend including Time as an Obstacle.
* Biggest risk in product development is delivering value-adding features and products.
* "If the learner did not learn, the teacher did not teach".
* [A Mural example](https://app.mural.co/t/akvo3857/m/akvo3857/1604012737848/588e0ab53504ff73388cadab4e4ac9000b54e6bb) (read only)
* [A Mural template](https://app.mural.co/template/b5250bc0-8b55-47f6-9e74-73252318a7bd/1cbafc58-78a6-4ddb-8caa-f4141bd871d7) (requires Mural account):

<div style="width: 600px;"> <h1 style="position: relative;vertical-align: middle;display: inline-block; font-size: 24px; line-height:28px; color: #393939;margin-bottom: 14px; font-weight: 300;font-family: Proxima Nova, sans-serif;"> <img src="https://app.mural.co/static/images/samples-avatar.png" style="position: absolute; border-radius: 50%;width: 36px;height: 36px;margin-right: 14px; display: inline-block; margin-top: -6px;margin-right: 10px; vertical-align: middle;"> <span style="padding-left: 46px; display: inline-block;"> Improvement Kata Template <span style="font-size: 16px; color: #393939; font-weight: 300;"> by MURAL </span> </span> </h1> <div style="position: relative;padding-bottom: 56.25%;height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 800px; min-width: 320px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #d8d8d8;"> <div style="position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;z-index: 10; width: 100%; height: 100%;background: url(https://murally.blob.core.windows.net/thumbnails/akvo3857/murals/akvo3857.1603980557996-5f9acd156e8bcc21f326147c-b4fc666e-9b43-44e4-893c-264f6d0be313.png?v=d2682e6d-adda-4766-ba7e-e68d4a3e23e8) no-repeat center center; background-size: cover;"> <div style="position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;z-index: 20;width: 100%; height: 100%;background-color: white;-webkit-filter: opacity(.4);"> </div> <a href="https://app.mural.co/template/b5250bc0-8b55-47f6-9e74-73252318a7bd/1cbafc58-78a6-4ddb-8caa-f4141bd871d7" target="_blank" style="transform: translate(-50%, -50%);top: 50%;left: 50%; position: absolute; z-index: 30; border: none; background: transparent;"> <img src="https://app.mural.co/static/images/button-template-large.png" alt="GET STARTED FROM TEMPLATE" width="347" height="50" style="width: 347px !important; height: 50px !important"> </a> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 7px;margin-bottom: 60px;line-height: 18px; font-size: 14px;font-family: Proxima Nova, sans-serif;font-weight: 400; color: #888888;"> Open to create a mural from this template in your workspace. <span style="color: #393939;"> Powered by </span> <a href="https://mural.co/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"> <span style="color: #ff0065;">MURAL</span> </a> </p></div>

# TOC

* [Part 1: Toyota Kata Basics](#part-1)
    * [2 - Why do we need Toyota Kata?](#ch-2)
    * [4 - Introducing the Toyota Kata framework](#ch-4)
    * [5 - Toyota Kata events and cadences in an Agile context.](#ch-5)
* [Part 2: The Starter Kata. Roles, Events and Concepts.](#part-two)
    * [7 - Toyota Kata Roles](#ch-7)
    * [8 - Toyota Kata Events](#ch-8)
    * [9 - Vision](#ch-9)
    * [10 - The Challenge](#ch-10)
    * [11 - Target and Current Condition](#ch-11)
    * [12 - Obstacles](#ch-12)
    * [13 - Experiments and Experiment Records (PDCA)](#ch-13)
    * [15 - Dashboard](#ch-15)
* [Part 3 - Toyota Kata in the wider organization](#part-3)
    * [16 - The coach, the learner and the second coach](#ch-16)
    * [17 - Catch-balls, Challenges and Target Conditions at the manager level.](#ch-17)
    * [18 - Roll-out of Kata in the organization](#ch-18)
    * [19 - The true potential of Toyota Kata](#ch-19)
    * [20 - Scaling Agile with Toyota Kata](#ch-20)
* [Part 4 - Using Other Models with Toyota Kata](#part-4)

# <a name="part-1"></a>Part 1: Toyota Kata Basics

# <a name="ch-2"></a>2 - Why do we need Toyota Kata?

* When in your improvement work:
    * You focus on the easy changes, not most important.
    * Not look at the effects of improvements.
    * Managers not focused on driving improvements.
    * Daily work is always more important than improvement work.
    * Improvements lacking direction.
    * Too much improvement work in progress.
    * Improvement slow and often on hold.
    * Teams improvements always require escalation.

# <a name="ch-4"></a>4 - Introducing the Toyota Kata framework

* Starter Kata = Improvement Kata + Coaching Kata.
* Future state:
    * Vision: True North, years in the future.
* Challenge: ambitious goal aligned with the Vision.
* Target Condition:
    * short term ambitious goal.
    * First step towards Challenge.
* Both Challenge and Target Condition: measurable and grounded in firm understanding of Current Condition.
* Improvement Kata, steps:
    1. Understand Vision and set Challenge.
    1. Gasp Current Condition.
    1. Decide on Target Condition.
    1. Experiment towards Target Condition.
* Learning is maximized when there is a 50/50 chance of failure (REINERSTEN, 2009).
* Coaching Kata:
    * Coaching dialogue to improve the learner's ability to execute the Improvement Kata.
    * An opportunity to learn.
* Toyota Kata: at the team level (expected end-to-end cross functional teams).

# <a name="ch-5"></a>5 - Toyota Kata events and cadences in an Agile context.

* Cadence:
    * Challenge: 2-6 months.
    * Target Condition: 4 weeks. 90 min meeting.
    * Coaching Kata: 1-2 times per week. 15 mins.
    * Daily Team Kata: 1-5 mins.
* 10-20% time on improvement.
         
# <a name="part-two"></a>Part 2: The Starter Kata. Roles, Events and Concepts.

* Starter Kata is just to start. It is expected that you will change it as you get familiar with it.

# <a name="ch-7"></a>7 - Toyota Kata Roles

* Process Lead:
    * Has the last call on the process improvement process.
    * Choose Challenge and Target Condition.
    * Investigate and describe Current Condition.
    * Participate in Coaching Kata.
    * Update Improvement Board.
    * Visualize progress and trends on Current Condition metrics.
    * Facilitate Improvement Kata Planning meetings.
    * Facilitate Daily Kata.
    * Challenge the team and organization to set ambitions improvement goals.
    * Marketing and selling to the team    
* Stable teams are essential.
* Process Lead =~ Scrum Master.
* Process improvement is the primary reason the manager role exists.
* Managers should have their own Challenges and Target Conditions.
    
## <a name="ch-8"></a>8 - Toyota Kata Events

* Coaching Kata:
    * To grow the skills of the Learner.
    * Learner must come prepared: all data gathered.
    * 5 questions + 1 extra:
        1. What is the Target Condition?
        1. What is the Current Condition now?
        1. Reflect on the last step:
            * What was your experiment?
            * What did you expect?
            * What actually happened?
            * What did you learn?
        1. What Obstacles you think are preventing you from reaching the Target Condition?
            * Which one are you addressing now?
        1. What is your next experiment?
            * What do you expect will happen?
            * When can we evaluate the result?
        1. What did you learn from this Coaching Kata?
    * Sometimes the Coach will decide on the next step to get to the next learning point.
* Planning coaching cycles: 
    * Similar to the "refinement" process for agile teams.
    * Start two weeks before the next Improvement Kata Planning meeting.
    * Add questions regarding the Challenge and next Target Condition to the Coaching Kata.
* Daily Team Kata:
    * Focus on experiment record.
    * Every day:
        * Plan: process improvement to be the smallest step possible. 
        * Do: hold everybody accountable.
        * Check: What has been learn?
        * Adjust (act): Reflect on learning.
* Improvement Kata Planning meeting:
    * Focus on setting the Target Condition, not on defining overall direction.
    * Bring data of Current Condition.
    * Challenge is also ready.
    * Coach present.
    * Pitfalls:
        * Discussing Target Condition for the whole 90 mins.
            * Not everybody will always agree.
        * Identifying all obstacles and future ones.
        * Perfect metrics instead of good enough.
    * Individuals will have to put the teams interests over their own.
    * Default meeting agenda:
        1. Did we achieve our last Target Condition?
            * If not, why? What happened? What did we learn?
        1. What is the Challenge?
        1. What is our Current Condition?
            * Review the updated Value Stream Map.
        1. What is the proposed focus area for the next four weeks?
        1. Agree on the next focus area.
            * Identify the Target and Current Condition for the chosen focus area (iterative).
        1. Identify Obstacles.
        1. Find Experiment ideas and choose the first Experiment.
    * Not a replacement for Agile Retrospectives (<- short term fixes).

## <a name="ch-9"></a>9 - Vision

* Focus on what you want, not in what you dont want.
* Process Vision != Process outcome.
* Tool, role and practice free.
* Agile Vision: 
    1. Strategy alignment:
        * People can identify with the overall success and how is aligned with the strategic direction.
        * Funding is transparent, dynamic, outcome focused and based on unbiased financial modeling.
    1. Empowered, self-organizing teams.
    1. Stable end-to-end teams with 100% allocation.
        * Entire Value Stream within a single team.
    1. Always releasable.
    1. Small batches, always outside-in approach:
        * Each work item includes a hypothesis of the actual monetary value.
    1. Visual management - full transparency.
    1. Continuous customer and end-user feedback.
        * Developers have access to real users.
    1. One by one flow.
    
## <a name="ch-10"></a>10 - The Challenge

* Step towards vision.
* Desirable Future State: Not a problem.
* Towards a goal, not away from problems.
* "Wouldn't it be great if we could ...?"
* Metrics: 
    * "From X to Y <content>"
        * X is Current Condition.
        * Y is Future State.
        * From [4 Disciplines of execution](https://www.amazon.com/Disciplines-Execution-Achieving-Wildly-Important/dp/1491517751)
    * Both Outcome (lagging) and Process (Leading) metrics.
* No implementation details, no solutions.
* Risk: measuring Current Condition without affecting it.
* 20/80 rule.
* Historical data.
* Realistic and ambitious.
* Choose metrics that can be measured frequently:
    1. Allow for more experiments.
    1. Culture of continuous improvements.

## <a name="ch-11"></a>11 - Target and Current Condition

* Target Condition focus on a subset of the Challenge.
* Fill first:
    1. Process metrics.
    1. Qualitative Outcome.
    1. Outcome metrics:
        * Can be difficult, and it is ok if we cannot measure them. Replace it for an Outcome theme.
* Data accuracy: 80% benefit with 20% effort.
    * Remember that the Target Condition will change, hence metrics collected are temporal. 
    * Be conscious of the time spent automating them.
* If the Target Condition is overambitious:
    * Cut scope.
    * Abort "sprint".
* If unambitious: Increase scope.
* It is ok to have a "learning" Target Condition but should be a rare thing.

## <a name="ch-12"></a>12 - Obstacles

* Not solutions framed negatively.
* We tend to drastically overestimate the number of problem that stand in the way of our goals.
* No need to fix all obstacles to reach the Target Condition.
* Do not recommend including Time as an Obstacle.
* [Cynefin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework):
    * CLEAR: 
        * Known knows.
        * Clear cause and effect.
        * Sense, categorize, use best practice.
    * COMPLICATED:
        * Known unknowns. 
        * There is a cause and effect, but need expertise.
        * Range of right answers.
        * Sense, analyze, choose good practice.
    * COMPLEX:
        * Unknowns unknowns.
        * Cause and effect can only be decided in retrospect.
        * Probe (safely), sense, emergent practice.
    * CHAOTIC:
        * Unclear cause and effect.
        * Act (to stablish order), sense (where stability is), novel practice.

        
## <a name="ch-13"></a>13 - Experiments and Experiment Records (PDCA)

* When coaching ask if removing the obstacle or if a successful experiment will move us closer to the Target Condition.
* Experiment idea: just one liner.
* Experiment record:
    1. Choose Obstacle.
    1. Choose experiment idea, and add:
        * Post-it with:
            * What we will do.
            * When it will happen.
            * Who is responsible.
        * Post-it with:
            * Expectation if success.
            * When to validate the result.
* Just one experiment at a time, except:
    * You can clearly separate the results.
    * Low effort, high calendar time.
* May need to repeat an experiment several times to confirm it removes an obstacle in a sustainable way.
* Make experiments small:
    * Dont need to solve the whole Obstacle.
    * 50% should take less than 3 days.
* Record and celebrate success:
    * Success cards (page 147).        

## <a name="ch-15"></a>15 - Dashboard

Mural Toyota Kata Dashboard: 

<div style="width: 600px;"> <h1 style="position: relative;vertical-align: middle;display: inline-block; font-size: 24px; line-height:28px; color: #393939;margin-bottom: 14px; font-weight: 300;font-family: Proxima Nova, sans-serif;"> <img src="https://app.mural.co/static/images/samples-avatar.png" style="position: absolute; border-radius: 50%;width: 36px;height: 36px;margin-right: 14px; display: inline-block; margin-top: -6px;margin-right: 10px; vertical-align: middle;"> <span style="padding-left: 46px; display: inline-block;"> Improvement Kata Template <span style="font-size: 16px; color: #393939; font-weight: 300;"> by MURAL </span> </span> </h1> <div style="position: relative;padding-bottom: 56.25%;height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 800px; min-width: 320px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #d8d8d8;"> <div style="position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;z-index: 10; width: 100%; height: 100%;background: url(https://murally.blob.core.windows.net/thumbnails/akvo3857/murals/akvo3857.1603980557996-5f9acd156e8bcc21f326147c-b4fc666e-9b43-44e4-893c-264f6d0be313.png?v=d2682e6d-adda-4766-ba7e-e68d4a3e23e8) no-repeat center center; background-size: cover;"> <div style="position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;z-index: 20;width: 100%; height: 100%;background-color: white;-webkit-filter: opacity(.4);"> </div> <a href="https://app.mural.co/template/b5250bc0-8b55-47f6-9e74-73252318a7bd/1cbafc58-78a6-4ddb-8caa-f4141bd871d7" target="_blank" style="transform: translate(-50%, -50%);top: 50%;left: 50%; position: absolute; z-index: 30; border: none; background: transparent;"> <img src="https://app.mural.co/static/images/button-template-large.png" alt="GET STARTED FROM TEMPLATE" width="347" height="50" style="width: 347px !important; height: 50px !important"> </a> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 7px;margin-bottom: 60px;line-height: 18px; font-size: 14px;font-family: Proxima Nova, sans-serif;font-weight: 400; color: #888888;"> Open to create a mural from this template in your workspace. <span style="color: #393939;"> Powered by </span> <a href="https://mural.co/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"> <span style="color: #ff0065;">MURAL</span> </a> </p></div>

# <a name="part-3"></a>Part 3 - Toyota Kata in the wider organization

## <a name="ch-16"></a>16 - The coach, the learner and the second coach

* "If the learner did not learn, the teacher did not teach".
* Usually the manager is the coach.
* Second coach: coach the coach, but also learn from the coach.

## <a name="ch-17"></a>17 - Catch-balls, Challenges and Target Conditions at the manager level.

* Slower cadence of Kata events. Recommendations in page 173.
* Catch-balls: 
    * Organization level improvements that tickle down the org.

## <a name="ch-18"></a>18 - Roll-out of Kata in the organization

* Ignore Outcome metrics for the first Challenge.

## <a name="ch-19"></a>19 - The true potential of Toyota Kata

Skipped.

## <a name="ch-20"></a>20 - Scaling Agile with Toyota Kata

Skipped.

# <a name="part-4"></a>Part 4 - Using Other Models with Toyota Kata

* Value stream mapping is great to understand Current Condition.
* Avoid Future State Value Stream mapping.
* Toyota Kata can move you beyond "Proto-Kanban".
* Toyota Kata maybe has potential for product development.
* Biggest risk in product development is delivering value-adding features and products.