Managing to Learn

Managing to Learn describes the A3 Management process for problem solving, mentoring, people development and Lean leadership. Managing to Learn shows what a true leader in action looks like, easy to understand and translatable to real behavior change.

Managing to Learn was written by Toyota veteran John Shook. Shook was the first Western manager at Toyota in Japan before Toyota expanded internationally. One of his main assignments was to "translate" Toyota's Lean management system outside Japan for the purpose of that internationalization. Today, Shook has succeeded Jim Womack as CEO of our American sister institution.

Shook reveals the ideas underlying the crucial A3 management process at the heart of Lean management and Lean leadership. Written as a dialogue between a manager and his supervisor, the book explains how "A3 thinking" helps managers and executives identify, capture and then address the problems and challenges facing the organization, especially at the tactical (or middle management) level. Shook calls this approach, captured in the simple structure of an A3, "the key to Toyota's entire system in developing talent and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities."

Although A3 is best known as a problem-solving technique, a close examination of this book reveals that the power of A3 lies in other things. Important aspects made concrete in this book include:

• The failure to unite but rather to separate authority (power, control, mandate) from responsibility
• A3 mentoring as targeted development - more than just asking questions
• Complexity is a primitive state; simplicity marks the end of a refining process 

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