{"id":822,"date":"2002-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-08-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chisnell.www216-119-142-248.a2hosted.com\/chizblog\/?p=822"},"modified":"2017-08-09T04:40:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T04:40:15","slug":"jidoka-for-kai-sen-toyota-corporations-lessons-for-american-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/jidoka-for-kai-sen-toyota-corporations-lessons-for-american-public-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Jidoka for Kai-sen: Toyota Corporation\u2019s Lessons for American Public Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2002 I earned a Toyota grant to explore Japanese culture and business, part of the inspiration to build a non-Western literature course, among other things.\u00a0 Here is one of the essays I wrote at the end of that trip, appropos today, as well.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda said, \u201cEach person should have one great project in their lives.\u201d \u00a0For us, that project is undoubtedly the education of young people.\u00a0 I know that it has become that for me.\u00a0 So it should be no wonder that his words resonated with me the moment I heard them in Toyota Motor Sales Headquarters in Los Angeles just before we departed for a two week educational tour of Japan this past summer of 2002.\u00a0 And they colored my experiences throughout the journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"Surely any corporation will put its best face forward, the Japanese hardly the least of them.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of any company\u2019s pledge to become number one in customer satisfaction.\u00a0 It would be easy to discredit the corporate source for its record of isolationism, its lagging record in employing women, its failure to protect standards through the equivalent of an OSHA in Japan, or even in the dangerous metaphor of equating education with manufacturing.\u00a0 Setting aside the genetic fallacy of such a dismissal, ignoring Toyota\u2019s lessons misses the point that it is hardly separate from the culture which produced it, from basic ideas of community and of tradition which pervade Japanese society.\u00a0 Through Toyota we might learn from Japan.<\/p>\n

And so, I listened for my great project and found the connections powerful.\u00a0 Jim Press, Executive Vice-President of Toyota Motor Sales in the US, for instance, spoke of approaching three men working with jackhammers and asking them, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\u00a0 The first answered, \u201cI\u2019m busting rocks.\u201d\u00a0 The second said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to feed my family.\u201d\u00a0 The third said, \u201cI\u2019m building a temple.\u201d\u00a0 What we do is not important for its mundane acts nor its practical results, but for the vision which belongs to each employee, each educator.\u00a0 So what is the vision?<\/p>\n

I believe it is in Toyota\u2019s use of an ancient Shinto idea.\u00a0 We are all used to the signs throughout America\u2019s parks and we often quote them:\u00a0 \u201cTake nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.\u201d\u00a0 The philosophy is one of minimal impact on our environment; we are, in essence, to cause no harm by doing nothing.\u00a0 For Toyota, the philosophy is quite different:\u00a0 \u201cLeave the world better than you found it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fundamental to this idea is vision and the creativity and courage to realize it.\u00a0 And it is this which powers Toyota\u2019s philosophy\u2014more importantly, it might power our own.<\/p>\n

Toyota lives a kind of philosophical hybrid of creativity and Quality (in the Demming sense).\u00a0 Its own three C\u2019s are creativity, challenge, and courage.\u00a0 Each are vital to our leaving the world better than before.<\/p>\n

Creativity means finding the means for achieving one\u2019s goals:\u00a0 \u201cBefore you say you can\u2019t do something, try it!\u201d argued Sakichi Toyoda.\u00a0 It also means that one must overcome obstacles with ingenuity.\u00a0 I am reminded of the story of the shogun who was denied muskets by European traders.\u00a0 He made a guest of a British gunsmith and subverted the aims of those who sought to limit him.\u00a0 That also means, however, accepting challenges that come with the vision.<\/p>\n

Both the Clinton and Bush administrations balked at fulfilling the Kyoto Protocols on the environment, frankly and openly concerned that to pledge to the internationally-prescribed CO2<\/sub>\u00a0<\/sub>levels would impact the US economy.\u00a0 Japan will meet the Kyoto standards by 2005, five years ahead of the recommended schedule.\u00a0 This is due in no small part to Toyota which has marketed ten times more hybrid vehicles than its leading competitor (also Japanese), Honda.\u00a0 Toyota continues to grow Japan\u2019s economy after the Asian financial crisis and, more, will sell its hybrid vehicles to other auto companies to help them also reach the Kyoto standards.<\/p>\n

Toyota automobiles recycle more parts than any other automaker, including plastic body sections which are ground up to form new auto bodies.\u00a0 Toyota uses a mixed production line:\u00a0 all models, foreign and domestic, are produced on one assembly line; each car has its own individual instruction sheet.\u00a0 In its drive to produce no defective products, Toyota created the Just-In-Time system,kanban,<\/em>\u00a0where parts are replaced for production only as needed.\u00a0 Thus, it is impossible to produce even dozens of defective vehicles because any mistake in product is limited.<\/p>\n

None of this would succeed if the company did not also proceed with the courage to trust everyone to its vision.\u00a0 This is\u00a0jidoka<\/em>, this is\u00a0kai-sen<\/em>, this is the belief that humans can be empowered to think and correct the machine (jidoka<\/em>) in order to achieve continuous improvement (kai-sen<\/em>).\u00a0 Many American teachers laughed when we heard in LA that\u00a0every<\/em>\u00a0worker was empowered to stop Toyota assembly if he discovered an error.\u00a0 But touring the Miyamachi Plant in Toyota City, I watched it happen.<\/p>\n

Along every manufacturing line is a long, broad, white rope, raised above the workers similar to what one sees on subway cars.\u00a0 If an error is found, any worker might pull the rope and halt the production line until the mistake is corrected.\u00a0 And, while we might have supposed that workers creating such unpredictable stops would be discouraged or even penalized, quite the opposite is true.\u00a0 Stopping the line earns the worker a bonus.\u00a0 On our 45 minute tour of the plant, I saw the line stopped five times, usually just to give the worker more time to complete a task.\u00a0 Toyota seeks employee alerts so that it can make corrections.<\/p>\n

Kai-sen<\/em>\u00a0means that workers must also have the experience and education to make the right decisions.\u00a0 \u201cGood thinking, good products\u201d is a company slogan.\u00a0 But here is where the links to American education become too plain.<\/p>\n

The significance of a vision is equated to experience and to education.\u00a0 Toyota\u2019s employees are trained well.\u00a0 They become experts in a variety of positions, just as any professionals would, and their suggestions are sought as a natural and routine policy.\u00a0 Each shares the vision, is offered the challenge, and courageously steps forward to find creative solutions.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this seems a bit heavy-handed for mere factory workers.\u00a0 Certainly other cultural differences between Japan and the United States impact the effect\u2014Japan is not unionized as America is (workers are guaranteed employment), and the Japanese have a stronger sense of community ethic than do Americans, perhaps\u2014but that, too, is part of the lesson for America\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n

Education is the key ingredient of community that we as teachers value.\u00a0 It is the \u201cgreat project\u201d that each of us undertakes.\u00a0 Like Toyota which places 64% of its philanthropy into education, we must recognize that customer (our students) and community (parents and teachers) are linked to the same purpose.\u00a0 In fact, I have just described the Toyota logo.<\/p>\n

The \u201cT\u201d link is the relationship between community and customer in a global vision.\u00a0 \u201cOpen the window,\u201d says Sakichi Toyoda. \u201cIt\u2019s a big world out there!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The only question for us is whether public schools can retain a vision instead of merely break rocks or find motivation in economics.\u00a0 Can public schools as systems find courage to accept the challenge to be creative; can they allow everyone in their inter-connected community to do the same?<\/p>\n

Can we keep individualized instruction within single classrooms?\u00a0 Can we work consistently for true Quality or mastery?\u00a0 Can workers ask for and be given the time to do their job well?\u00a0 Can we place resources precisely where they are needed?\u00a0 Can we work as a team for\u00a0kai-sen<\/em>?\u00a0\u00a0 Can we leave the world better than we found it?<\/p>\n

Ironically, the Toyoda family changed the name of the company to Toyota for a number of fairly esoteric reasons:\u00a0 the new kanji would use a lucky eight strokes, the name was more aesthetically pleasing, etc.\u00a0 But Toyota is a made-up word.\u00a0 In Japanese it has the rare distinction of being a word without meaning.\u00a0 But I think that is its advantage.\u00a0 For Toyota, there is no denotation which should limit its creativity, there is no closed signifier which prevents change.\u00a0 There is\u00a0jidoka<\/em>\u00a0for\u00a0kai-sen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2002 I earned a Toyota grant to explore Japanese culture and business, part of the inspiration to build a non-Western literature course, among other things.\u00a0 Here is one of the essays I wrote at the end of that trip, appropos today, as well. —– Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda said, \u201cEach person should have one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247,262,304],"tags":[444,445,446,447,418,391,448,449],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chizblog","category-education","category-travel","tag-challenge","tag-courage","tag-creativity","tag-demming","tag-environment","tag-japan","tag-quality","tag-toyota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/toyota-proto.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1735,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-glacier-to-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":0},"title":"American Road Trip 1: Glacier to Idaho","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jul 30","format":false,"excerpt":"Day Seven: Sorest Calves in Glacier This morning's hike took us into the \"Heart of Glacier,\" a flora identification trip to Iceberg Lake, about 10 mountainous miles round trip. The hike began well, with seven of us outfitted with boots and packs and a cool crisp morning. About two miles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/073009_1627_AmericanRoa1.jpg?fit=443%2C295&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1739,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-yellowstone-to-the-badlands\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":1},"title":"American Road Trip 1: Yellowstone to The Badlands","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Aug 4","format":false,"excerpt":"Day Twelve: Yellowstone to Caspar, WY Early morning (and a bitterly 36 degrees) found me rolling down my driver's window to ask first a moose and then a bison to kindly step out of my way. The bison, in particular, seemed stubborn in an obtuse sort of way. I honestly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/080509_1900_AmericanRoa8.jpg?fit=449%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":796,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/idealism-and-cuba-ghetto-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":2},"title":"Idealism and Cuba Ghetto Art","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2011 Jul 3","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I attempted an Afro-Cuban rumba dance on the streets of the Salvador art project in Havana, Cuba. I was not successful, as I am certain future photos will reveal. U.S. teachers seldom find the opportunity to learn Afro-Cuban dance while lesson planning, grading papers, and completing reports. Nevertheless, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/20160116_163533.jpg?fit=800%2C435&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/20160116_163533.jpg?fit=800%2C435&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/20160116_163533.jpg?fit=800%2C435&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/20160116_163533.jpg?fit=800%2C435&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":825,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/rohs-course-catalog-2009\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":3},"title":"ROHS Course Catalog – 2009","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jan 26","format":false,"excerpt":"Given a chance to re-create the Course Catalog for 2009-2010, and just in time for scheduling day, I offer the following new course proposals for you. Have an idea I forgot? Add it! \u00a0 Philosophy: Ethics Students will spend the semester pondering and arguing the contemporary dilemmas of 21st\u00a0century America,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/edcamp-header.jpg?fit=448%2C334&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":793,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/testing-our-ethic\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":4},"title":"Testing Our Ethic","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jan 2","format":false,"excerpt":"The following post was first printed as part of the Briggs-Chisnell project, a dialogue on issues of education and literacy. \u00a0 Let\u2019s be in an uproar. Ethics have fallen in our society. Kids these days are apathetic and don\u2019t care. No matter what we teach them, it is seen as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/cheating.jpg?fit=525%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/cheating.jpg?fit=525%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/cheating.jpg?fit=525%2C350&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":789,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/key-education-objectives-should-remain-amidst-reform-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":822,"position":5},"title":"Key Education Objectives Should Remain Amidst Reform Measures","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2015 Feb 6","format":false,"excerpt":"The following op-ed was written as the first of a series for The Oakland Press, part of my work as an EdVoice Fellow. \u00a0 Is it possible for a teacher of nearly 30 years to change his thinking about what he teaches? When I was going to school in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/07\/063.jpg?fit=980%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/07\/063.jpg?fit=980%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/07\/063.jpg?fit=980%2C690&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/07\/063.jpg?fit=980%2C690&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1591,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/1591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}