Devops for Growth

Bill Costantino's classic explanation of the Improvement Kata, originally posted as a SlideCast on November 25, 2011. Awesome!

This video can be used to provide some Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata background content for 'pre-review' online, prior to classroom or practice activities. Here's how to do it:

1) Have your Learners watch the video on their own time before a classroom or practice activity. Tell the Learners to write down what they think are the key points of the video. Tell the Learners that there will be a quiz and that they may be called upon.

2) You (teacher/Coach) should also write down what you think are the key points in the video *before* the classroom/practice activity.

3) Begin the class/practice session by asking Learners what they got out of the video. Write their responses on a flipchart or board. This will help you see how the Learners are currently thinking. The key points that the Learners miss are things you can emphasize in your subsequent instruction and coaching.

#ToyotaKata #ScientificThinking #ImprovementKata

In most of the Featureban simulations in the last two years or so, I added Toyota Kata as the retrospective technique from the 2nd retrospective onwards, inspecting the Kanban statistical trends. I moved on from old official Toyota Kata to a solar system metaphorical equivalent, as it was easier to explain. Why the 2nd retrospective onwards, because in the first retrospective, more than one explicit policy changes usually, and Toyota Kata is about which one biggest obstacle to the target condition will we tackle next, based on reading these charts.

More details on Toyota Improvement & Coaching Kata can be found at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/Homepage.html. I personally like this video demonstration at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pp8JMD-pWQ&t=0s, thinking about how I can apply it in my context.

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