Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor and Lead

THE FIRST BOOK I RECOMMEND TO EXECUTIVES AND LEADERS ON A LEAN JOURNEY.John Shook, building upon his Japanese language and work experience including 10 years with Toyota has again written a practical book which will accelerate those on a lean journey.Of 250+ continuous improvement books studied over the past 19 years, this 2008 release immediately ranks amoung the top 5 in my library. Helpful for those biased through exposure to Six Sigma and DMAIC, this book is ideal for practitioners, leaders and consultants.The soft side of change is very well addressed. Advocacy, inquiry, gaining buy-in, fear, frustrations and jubilation are presented in a creative and highly effective format (although some may not appreciate nemawashi and hansei at first) . The soft skills are the hardest part of any lean journey and normally receive too little attention.Most pages are divided into a right and a left hand column representing the project leader and the executive who is the coach of the project leader. The use of this unusual format addresses one of the most challenging issues (and opportunities for improvement) when embarking upon a lean journey......engaging leadership in their role of driving organizational learning through coaching.The introduction felt "slow," but do not let the first 7 pages discourage you. The story told is rich with real world emotions, dead ends, and rewritings, including numerous additional A3 case studies.For those without a flexible mind and the ability to think in processes, the document translation process improvement story line throughout the book may not seem applicable to manufacturing processes. A lean journey requires this mental agility in any case, so Shook likely choose this story because if the reader is not flexible enough to relate to the example, they are not ready for lean.Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System compliments well Managing to Learn with a slightly different view of technical aspects. Mr. Sorbek's work contains a tasty case study which the reader is invited to complete and compare with one excellent example.Looking forward to the next thought leadership from Mr. Shook, perhaps on TWI and standardized work?

John Shook has written a solid book that can stand proudly alongside the other books in the Lean Enterprise Institute's lineup. This book is especially useful for those new to lean who want to understand the nuts and bolts of how the A3 management system works. Most people new to lean begin applying the tools without a full appreciation of the management system or the real thinking that goes on behind it. Without these supporting mechanisms, people's efforts at lean deployment generate small results and sustainment is poor. A3s are one of the key tools to successful deployment.As with other books in the LEI lineup, this book is very readable. The illustrations are simple, the examples are straightforward, and the text is well-edited and well-structured. This book takes a fictional company as an example. As one who helps teach others, the narrative style has irritated me because authors frequently use it in a pure storytelling format. Books like these often have little instructional value because they are difficult to study from. Managing to Learn tells a company's example story, but it also explains and discusses the narrative events in a second column of text in the margin. Its almost like your floating above the players with your sensei, hearing the thoughts of the actors and an explanation by your lean leader. Combined with sidebar comments and uncluttered illustrations, the layout and style of this book make it a rich reference and a great study and teaching tool.As the book points out, there are a number of ways A3s can be used, and Managing to Learn shows examples of each. The theme linking all of these together is the systematic problem solving thinking that is at the heart of A3 thinking.I am a consultant and I currently manage a consortium of over 50 companies working together to become lean organizations. For a number of reasons, I have made the preparation of A3s for every kaizen improvement event a MANDATORY requirement for all my clients and consortium members. One of the key results of doing so is that it gets people oriented from day one understanding that lean is more than just using tools - you are solving problems, and going from problem, through analysis, down to root causes, and on to a plan that you implement and check, is the structured thinking that A3s create.I recommend this book highly, and it is now on the short list of required reading I endorse for anyone using lean tools and principles.

A good friend recommended this book late last year. I bought it and have skimmed it a few times; getting a general flavor. At his recent prompting, I sat down and read it through---and I'm glad I did. There is much to learn from Mr. Shook's able description of the A3 process and he teaches using a method similar to that used in The Goal---however, this is much better. There are a few moments when the scenarios seemed a bit contrived, but the point was made. I plan to re-read and put into action in several areas of interest. This book is highly recommended.

Excellent book