pass on the DNA of this learning organization as they expand globally is through
dedicatedsenseiwho act as personal tutors to new associates.
The Toyota Way is about tacit knowledge, not explicit procedural knowledge.
“Tacit” knowledge is the craft type of knowledge that you gain from experience
and reflection, not from reading a recipe. This tacit knowledge includes know-how
and a philosophy of continuous improvement that is learned by doing with a
coach who already has been enlightened through hard work and experience.
The obvious implication is that the book should be reduced to one sentence: Go
find a sensei to learn from and enjoy the journey!
We thought there was still value to writing a “fieldbook,” but we struggled to
define its purpose. We began by ruling out writing a “how-to” book that gives
checklists and assessment instruments and step-by-step procedures. There are
some in here, but those by themselves would not do justice to the profound
insights we have gotten from our experiences with Toyota. Jeffrey Liker has
spent over 20 years visiting and studying Toyota. David Meier spent almost 10
years with personal Japanese mentors at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant
and could easily imagine their disapproving grunts and head shaking if he
reduced Toyota’s way to a cookbook format.
So we decided to take a different approach. The Toyota Waydocumented Toyota’s
Way. We decided the fieldbook should provide practical advice to those attempting
to learn from The Toyota Way.We have both had years of experience in teaching
Toyota’s methods and philosophies to thousands of companies by lecture and
hands-on consulting. We are constantly learning what works and what does not
work. We are constantly facing misunderstandings about how to learn from Toyota.
We also occasionally have the good fortune of seeing the lightbulbs go on, and peo-
ple do amazingly innovative things based on what they learn. So we decided to
share our experiences from hands-on efforts to help companies learn from Toyota.
We still realize this book is a long way from a how-to guide. We have many
examples from Toyota to bring the concepts to life. And we can share many lessons
we have had the good fortune to learn. But we’ve taken our understanding of
Toyota one step further, providing advice on how to learn from the Toyota Way.
The learning journey must be your own personal journey. Treat this book as
picking up on the lessons of the Toyota Way and applying it to how you can
learn from Toyota. But these are just ideas. You have to apply the ideas in your
situation in your way.
Some of the ideas we present here may generate some disagreement in the
lean manufacturing community. There are as many specific approaches to a partic-
ular situation as there are lean “experts.” You may look at one of our examples
and think, “They should have done it this way,” or “There is another possible
method.” If you make these observations, great! That means you understand the
concepts well enough to realize the various possible solutions to any situation.
Chapter 1. Background to the Fieldbook 5