The Sensei Way at Work follows in the wake of dozens of successful business books on the Toyota production system, lean enterprise, and the Toyota Way, yet it is unique. It identifies the five keys that sustain successful lean production in Western enterprises—a challenge that has stymied business leaders, managers, and lean coaches for decades.
The first reason for our frequent inability to sustain the initial gains of lean startups is a misunderstanding of the Japanese term "kaizen mind." Many mistranslate it as a "hunger" for business efficiency and cost reduction. In fact, kaizen mind is a psychology of "mindfulness" joined with "creativity." And once evoked by a sensei, it can be applied (without training) when a leader mandates that employees and managers solve quality problems and redesign the work together.
The second reason is our need to develop new change leaders who know "the way." A sensei immerses prospects in a series of challenges until they learn to do the work of change with the mind of a leader, that is, from the states of presence, flow, and compassion.
Lasting organizational transformation becomes possible, even inevitable, when its leaders learn the five keys and realize "one big thing" in the Sensei Way.
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Author
Prologue : Playing in the Zone
Introduction
Chapter 1 : Lost in Translation
Chapter 2 : Ackoff’s Mess
Chapter 3 : Western Business Goes East
Chapter 4 : The First Key is Kaizen Mind
Chapter 5 : The Second Key is Lean Thinking
Chapter 6 : The Third Key is Lean Coaching
Chapter 7 : The Fourth Key is Change Leadership
Chapter 8 : The Fifth Key is The Sensei Way
Chapter 9 : It's a Wabi Sabi World
Epilogue : Be the Change
Appendix 1 : A Partial Retrospective on the Tennessee Plant's Lean Transformation with the Enneagram
Index
