Toyota Talent: Developing Your People the Toyota Way Review

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Toyota Talent: Developing Your People the Toyota Way ReviewToyota Talent is the third, and newest, book in the "Toyota Way" series:
* The Toyota Way, written by Dr. Jeffrey Liker
* The Toyota Way Fieldbook, by Liker and David Meier
* Toyota Talent, Liker and Meier
They are a trilogy of books, but each is very different and has its own unique place in the lean literature. These books are unlike a series of novels, such as the Harry Potter series (I presume, not having read them), where you necessarily have to read all of them.
The Toyota Way is an outstanding overview of the Toyota methodology, philosophy, and management system. The book does an excellent job of describing how Toyota is, in a high-level manner that can be applied across industries, including the gap between manufacturing and healthcare. The Toyota Way is one of the very first books I would recommend to any executive or manager to get a sense of the overall Toyota system (helping them avoid the urge to implement selected lean tools without understanding the entire system.
The Toyota Way Fieldbook was not, as some might have thought, simply a paperback version of The Toyota Way. The Fieldbook was an altogether different book, with a different purpose. As effective as The Toyota Way was, the Fieldbook was necessary for filling in the gaps in a reader's mind, someone who thought, "Ok, I know how Toyota is.... but how do *I* get there??" The Fieldbook is more of a guide for "how to implement" the Toyota Production System. The Fieldbook is one I would recommend to managers or active practitioners in a lean transformation.
Now, the Toyota Way team is setting out to write what should be considered an altogether new trilogy and series of books -- related to The Toyota Way and the Fieldbook, but with a different purpose. The three books in this series are:
* Toyota Talent
* Toyota Process
* Toyota Problem Solving
These books will, I would assume, follow a similar structure and tone, each diving deep (Very deeply, based on Toyota Talent) into a single core idea in the Toyota Mindset.
Toyota Talent is *NOT* a book only for H.R. professionals. If you think that developing people is the job of H.R., then don't even bother reading this book. Developing people, getting the most out of your organization's human potential, is the job of every leader in a lean organization. If your idea of developing people is to fire your "bottom 10%" each year, replacing them with better talent then, again, save your $20 and buy another Jack Welch tome. I saw a copy in an airport bookstore the other day, which was nice to see, but it also struck me as odd, since that seems like the executive market that the publisher is targeting. I'm happy for Liker and Meier if that helps sell more copies.
So who *should* read this book, then? Well, I think different parts of the book have different audiences. The first section, Getting the Organization Ready to Develop Exception People, consists of four overview chapters. For the executive reader, I'd recommend the first two chapters, which provide a concise summary of the Toyota Way philosophy and how developing people supports lean and, more importantly, long-term business success.
So I'm saying the executives shouldn't bother learning the details of Toyota Talent? In a perfect world, or an ideal lean organization, maybe executives would eat this stuff up. But, I think it's more realistic to have executives read the first few chapters so they can understand what their organization will be implementing. If time is tight, the rest of the book might contain too much detail. Let the line leaders and implementors digest the content and start implementing, coaching the executives with the distilled version (and key points) of Toyota Talent. If you disagree with that approach, please comment using the link at the end of this post.
Now, to the meat of the book. Toyota Talent really breaks new ground, rather than re-hashing things we've all read before. Unless you have a strong background in the Training Within Industry methodology, much of the book will be an eye opener, giving you approaches and tools that can be implemented immediately. Toyota Talent is written more along the lines of the Fieldbook, in the sense that the authors give you specifics that can be implemented, rather than just a description of Toyota's system.
If you're an active lean change agent (as a line manager or a consultant), this book is a must read. The book demystifies the world of Standardized Work and breaks it down into something concrete and practical. The book not only explains how to develop and implement a standardized work system, it also (in typical Toyota style), explains much of the "why" -- why do we implement standardized work?
The book sets a tone of not standardizing for the sake of standardizing. The methodology focuses on figuring out what matters, and doing so by getting input from the value adding employees. Focusing on safety and quality is a key part of Toyota Talent's methodology. The book gives a method for breaking down the work content of existing jobs, using highly repetitive manufacturing examples as well as a highly variable healthcare environment (a nurse in a hospital). The method is presented in a way that DOES make sense for both environments, which might be a surprise to many readers.
Toyota Talent covers the entire standardized work process:
* Deciding what to standardize
* Breaking work content down and documenting standardized work
* How to train in a highly effective manner
The book builds upon the Training Within Industry methodology, as written about in other books. But, Toyota Talent explains how Toyota built upon the TWI framework to create something uniquely Toyota, but adaptable to almost any environment.
Even with my caveats (and maybe my cynicism about executive attention spans), I highly recommend Toyota Talent. It carves out a very unique, and helpful, place in the lean literature. It's a very readable book, written in a down to earth and practical style.Toyota Talent: Developing Your People the Toyota Way Overview
Toyota doesn't just produce cars; it produces talented people. In the international bestseller, The Toyota Way, Jeffrey Liker explained Toyota's remarkable success through a 4P model for excellence-Philosophy, People, Problem Solving, and Process. Liker, with coauthor David Meier, provided deeper insight into the practical application of the principles in The Toyota Way Fieldbook. Now, these authorities on Toyota reveal how you can develop talented people and achieve incredible results in your company.

Toyota Talent walks you through the rigorous methodology used by this global powerhouse to grow high-performing individuals from within. Beginning with a review of Toyota's landmark approach to developing people, the authors illustrate the critical importance of creating a learning and teaching culture in your organization. They provide specific examples necessary to train employees in all areas-from the shop floor to engineering to staff members in service organizations-and show you how to support and encourage every individual to reach his or her top potential.

Toyota Talent provides you with the inside knowledge you need to

Identify your development needs and create a training plan
Understand the various types of work and how to break complicated jobs into teachable skills
Set behavioral expectations by properly preparing your workplace
Recognize and develop potential trainers within your workforce
Effectively educate nonmanufacturing employees and members of the staff
Develop internal Lean Manufacturing experts

Guiding you with expert tips and training aids, as well as real-world examples drawn from the authors' two decades of research and field work, Liker and Meier show you how to get the most out of people who live and breathe your company's philosophy-and who work together toward a common goal.


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