Managing to Learn

Most managers solve problems. Toyota’s best managers teach their people to solve problems. That fundamental difference—who is learning and who is thinking—explains why Toyota continues to develop generations of strong leaders, while other organizations become increasingly dependent on a handful of experts at the top.

Managing to Learn reveals the system behind that difference. Not as theory, but as a concrete dialogue that you can literally follow and replicate.

What do you learn in Managing to Learn?

Managing to Learn is structured as both a workbook and a dialogue. You follow Desi, a manager drafting an A3, and Ken, her supervisor, as they work through the thought process together. You read the questions Ken asks, see where Desi gets stuck, and discover how a good coach helps without taking over. That’s what makes this book unique: it not only shows what coaching leadership is, but what it looks like in daily practice.

The A3, Toyota’s one-page format for problem-solving, is the central tool in the book. But Shook shows that the A3 is much more than just a form. Its true power lies in the dialogue it fosters: those who create an A3 must think clearly. Those who facilitate an A3 must ask the right questions. And those who master this interaction systematically build their team’s capabilities.

You will learn how the structure and sequence of an A3 systematically encourages critical thinking, how, as a manager, you can help people discover things for themselves without providing answers, when to intervene and when not to, and how Toyota deliberately separates authority from responsibility to facilitate learning.

Why should I read *Managing to Learn*?

There are several books on A3 thinking. *Managing to Learn* is different because it treats A3 not as a tool but as a development system. The question is not how to fill out an A3, but how to use A3 to help people grow and thereby build the learning capacity of the entire organization.

John Shook wrote this book from a unique perspective: as the first Western manager at Toyota in Japan, he was tasked with adapting the Lean management system for international expansion. He learned the system from the inside out, through Toyota’s own human resources and talent development. That direct insight makes *Managing to Learn* more than just a good management book; it offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Toyota truly shapes its leaders.

Who is *Managing to Learn* intended for?

• Managers and supervisors who want to empower their teams to work more independently and take on more responsibility for solving problems themselves
• Lean coaches who want to take their A3 coaching from a tool to a coaching practice
• Senior managers who want to foster a coaching culture within their organization
• Anyone who is already familiar with A3 and wants to understand how to use it effectively as a learning and development tool
  

What do fellow writers think of this book?

"Managing to Learn reveals what A3 really is: not just a form, but a way of thinking and a way of coaching. Shook has written the definitive book on this subject." — Jim Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute

"This book will change the way you view your own role as a leader. After reading it, you’ll realize that the question isn’t how to solve problems, but how to teach people to do it themselves." — Jeffrey K. Liker, author of The Toyota Way

Additional Information

About the author

John Shook was the first Western manager to work at Toyota in Japan, with the specific task of adapting the Lean management system for the company’s international expansion. In that role, he worked closely with Toyota’s top coaches and got to know the Toyota Production System from the inside, not as an observer, but as a participant.

After his time at Toyota, he co-authored Seeing Is Believing, one of the most widely used Lean workbooks worldwide, and later served as CEO of the Lean Enterprise Institute in the U.S. Managing to Learn is his most personal contribution to Lean literature: a synthesis of everything he has learned about how Toyota develops people into thinkers and problem solvers.