Engaging the Team at Zingerman’s Mail Order: A Toyota Kata Comic

On the very first page, authors Lander, Liker, and Root capture the essence of the book.“(T)he heart and soul of Lean Management (is) developing people to continuously improve. Most of the lean tools are designed to surface problems so you know what to work on to achieve your goals. Engaged, scientific-thinking team members solve (the problems) one by one.”After numerous false starts by enthusiastic leaders, Zimmerman’s Mail Order (ZMO) lands on an approach that teaches scientific thinking, addresses culture, and engages the people to make on-going (continuous) improvement. How? ZMO used Toyota Kata (TK) to learn TK. (It’s a meta thing that works!) The story is told in a comic book format. It’s easy to read and comprehensive. Readers will see a good example of how to start, what issues they might encounter, how to maintain progress, and how KT is extended in an organization. Along the way, you’ll recognize how TK works on the culture while developing the skill of scientific thinking. This results in engaging everyone in addressing the problems and challenges of the business. The book includes an Addendum with the artifacts referenced in the story. Very useful.I encourage any organization desiring a path for coupling developing people with continuous improvement to get a copy of “Engaging the Team at ZMO” now!

Continuous improvement and adaptiveness are more vital than ever. Since the path to new goals is not predictable, it takes leading in ways that engage everyone's mind and creativity, not just a few managers attempting to predict and direct things the old command-and-control way. In the new way, teams and organizations use a shared, scientifically sound language and way of striving; a "social circuitry" that helps them sense, learn, adjust, and communicate as they work toward goals one step at a time.Developing scientific-thinking mindset takes some deliberate practice, usually more structured and coached at first until skills and habits form. The creators of the "Engaging the Team" comic show you how one well-known organization – Zingerman's Mail Order – did it, in an entertaining way that you can read in about an hour.I wholeheartedly endorse "Engaging the Team at Zingerman's Mail Order," a story from a company in my home town Ann Arbor. The comic format keeps you engaged from start to finish, and the story provides a goldmine of insights as it illustrates a strategy for getting started, called 'Toyota Kata.' The comic's focus on developing scientific-thinking skills and habits to help teams achieve goals provides a blueprint for long-term success. Every manager should probably buy, and is likely to enjoy, this book."Engaging the Team" earns a 5-star rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟!

If you want to learn (or teach) lean concepts and/or Toyota Kata, this book can help to shorten the learning curve.I was particularly delighted with this book for a couple of reasons:• Graphic novels can be less intimidating than books full of text (for those who are not avid readers)• This graphic novel is short• The Zingerman’s story illustrates “failed attempts” as “learning” in a way that is relatable to my audience• The book illustrates lean concepts in a high-variability environment, which closely aligns to the work conditions of my audience

Arrived on time and undamaged.

This captivating graphic novel skillfully unravels the intricate journey of Eduardo, Betty, Tom, J., Lisa, Mo, and others at Zingerman’s Mail Order. It beautifully chronicles their footsteps, struggles, and invaluable learnings.The story unfolds with a backdrop of previous attempts, including PDCA & 5-whys, Improvement grants, and the Toyota Business Practice's 8-step problem-solving methodology. Despite these efforts falling short due to a misalignment with ZMO's unique culture, the team's resilience shines through as they started practicing Toyota Kata.The brilliance of “Engaging the Team at Zingerman’s Mail Order” lies in its ability to bring scientific thinking to life. The narrative skillfully demonstrates how individuals at ZMO work collaboratively towards significant goals through incremental, bite-sized steps. The graphic novel provides a firsthand experience at the gemba, showcasing real experiments and the resulting insights.An interesting nod is the cameo appearance of Tilo Schwarz, shedding light on the Coaching Kata. Highly recommended! As a footnote, I visited ZMO in August of 2015 with Mike Rother, and met Betty Gratopp. This short visit only added to the joy of reading this book!