The first step of the Improvement Kata — “Understand the Direction or Challenge” — is often overlooked, but is highly important for the three steps that follow. In this video Tyler Fife shares experiences from BiAmp Systems in Portland, Oregon to provide an excellent description of what Challenge is, how it fits in and what happens if you skip over this step of the Improvement Kata pattern.
This video comes from the many Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata activities of the Northwest High Performance Enterprise Corporation (NWHPEC); which is the Lean Consortium and home base for a Community of Kata Practice in the Portland, Oregon area.
Mike Rother comments on the video:
I think this is a particularly useful video because the first step of the Improvement Kata — “Understand the Direction or Challenge” — is the context or ‘frame’ for the three IK steps that follow. The speaker, Tyler Fife of BiAmp Systems, defines what a Challenge is, how it fits in and what happens when you skip over this step of the IK pattern. Tyler also points out that Future-State Mapping is one good way to set your next Challenge.
Toyota Kata was popularized by Mike Rother and documented in his book, Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results.
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