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The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, by Matthew E. May
Download The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, by Matthew E. May
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Toyota is now one of the top three car companies in the U.S. according to the New York Times--a fact that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. May, a senior advisor with the University of Toyota, reveals how Toyota's philosophy of team-based innovation and creative business practices has made this -postindustrial manufacturing company a winner. A formula of three principles and 10 practices drives Toyota's creativity, with a reported one million ideas from its employees being implemented each year. May was challenged to translate the Toyota Production System into a company-wide process to cultivate creative ideas at every level of the company and convert those ideas to solid value for customers buying a Toyota automobile. May outlines his journey with dozens of compelling real-life examples of creative thinking while weaving in the history and Japanese culture that has made Toyota the well-respected and profitable company it is today. Gail WhitcombCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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About the Author
Matthew E. May is a longtime Toyota business partner, holding a key advisory role with the University of Toyota for more than eight years. As a master Toyota instructor and founder of L.A.-based Aevitas, he partners with management teams to achieve excellence in innovation, working with a number of well-known organizations, including Wells Fargo, Sprint Nextel, Quadrant Homes, and the Los Angeles Police Department. A graduate of The Wharton School and Johns Hopkins University, he lives with his wife and daughters in Southern California, where he is an avid cyclist.
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Product details
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Free Press; 1 edition (October 10, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780743290173
ISBN-13: 978-0743290173
ASIN: 0743290178
Product Dimensions:
6.2 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
22 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,578,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I excepted a lot from the elegant solution. It has been recommended by a lot of persons as a must read. Honestly, I was dissapointed. It's still an good book, but didn't find it as "classic" as people had suggested to me."The elegant solution" is about tools for creating innovation on your job. These tools are based on Toyota's tools and practices. The book is devided in three parts. The first part sets three general principles. The second part, by far the largest, provides the tools for innovation, the practices. The last part talks about implementing these practices.The three principles are "the art of ingenuity", "pursuit of perfection" and "rhythm of fit". They were interesting principles, but not really new or shocking. Sometimes I found them even a little too vague.The practices range from "thinking in pictures" to "master the tension". Each chapter shortly states the practice and explains the key ideas. After that it uses stories to clarify the practice. Lot's of stories are from inside Toyota. Some stories related to Lance Armstrong, a little too many in my opinion and they were somewhat boring. Anyways, in general, the stories were what made the book interesting.The third part didn't provide very much content.In summary, I enjoyed the book, for the stories. I didn't find the practices new and the book didn't provided me with any new insight that other lean books did not provide. The book was written a little bit too much in a "popular style" which annoyed me.Worth reading for the stories. When wanting to know more on lean or toyota I'd recommend other books like "Toyota way" or "Lean product and process development".
I highly recommend his book to all who want to practice innovation as a way of doing business. In the foreword, Kevin Roberts writes that Toyota is "the quintessential postindustrial organization" which has "a highly structured and systematized culture that is also a hotbed of individual creativity." Matthew May was hired by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. to design and deliver education for the University of Toyota that would translate the innovative methods of the Toyota Production System into something that could be used by knowledge workers. It took May five years to accomplish the process. According to May, at Toyota it is the quest for the elegant solution the shapes true innovation. In his book, May not only defines the elegant solution but also tells the reader how to achieve innovation in his or her own work.In addition to Kevin Roberts' foreword The Elegant Solution contains the following chapter divisions:Backstory: One Million IdeasIntroduction: In Search of ElegancePart 1: Principles1. The Art of Ingenuity2. The Pursuit of Perfection3. The Rhythm of FitPart 2: Practices4. Let Learning Lead5. Learn to See6. Design for Today7. Think in Pictures8. Capture the Intangible9. Leverage the Limits10. Master the Tension11. Run the Numbers12. Make Kaizen Mandatory13. Keep it LeanPart 3. Protocol14. The Clamshell Strategy15. The Elegant SolutionAfterword: Word of EncouragementIn his Backstory: One Million Ideas, May writes that the world needs his book on innovation because it needs a book that is different, that looks at innovation in a new way and that helps with us with our daily work. May tells us that Toyota "implements a million ideas a year." In May's opinion the one million business ideas implemented each year is why Toyota's market value is larger than GM, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Honda and Volkswagen combined. May's basic proposition is that the "quest for the elegant solution shapes true innovation." He says that the "formula for the solution is an amalgam of principles, practices and protocol." But the individual parts are not new. It is "Toyota's remarkable ability to collectively and completely master all of them as a way of life" that makes Toyota unique.Introduction: In Search of EleganceIn his introduction May tells the story of Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, the precursor of the Toyota Motor Company. Toyoda's story is "about one man's nearly spiritual quest to solve a very real problem facing the world around him." The underlying principals that Toyoda followed were Ingenuity in Craft, Pursuit of Perfection and Fit with Society. It is these principles that "fuel the engine of innovation at Toyota." May says that simple solutions are better, and elegant solutions are better still. He describes the elegant solution as "finding the aha solution to a problem with the greatest parsimony of effort and expense."Chapter 1: The Art of IngenuityMay tells us that even though some in the business press are saying that innovation in America is becoming extinct because of outsourcing, "there's a slowly rising tide of creativity among today's workforce. More and more, people are beginning to return to the almost forgotten Renaissance era of mastery. They're adopting a different view of their work ... people are beginning to see themselves as artists and scientists, or more accurately business artists and business scientists." According to May, the business world today demands this change. That because of recent events people have become disenchanted with business and need a new way to work, a new perspective. The new way is creative license. This new way of working at innovation is an applied creativity. May sees applied creativity as ingenuity and says that it has two sides - Engagement and Exploration.Chapter 2 - The Pursuit of PerfectionIn this chapter, May describes the pursuit of perfection as discipline of increments. He shows how we have come to expect and accept mediocrity instead of perfection. But there are companies that don't accept mediocrity, but pursue perfection. He lists Toyota, Apple, Gore and GE. May maintains that elegant solutions "demand optimizing quality, cost and speed. They're the three primary tangible drivers of customer value in all goods and services." He says that our culture is fishing for the red herring, the big idea. And that this keeps us from focusing on the real work of innovation. He claims that the big earth-shattering ideas rarely work at first that it takes innovators to "shape them into something actually workable." May uses the example of the mouse and icon system interface. Xerox conceived it, but it was Apple that made it work commercially. He maintains that the kind of discipline needed for the pursuit of perfection "requires a fundamental mindshift." How it is not big leaps but it is small steps.Chapter 3: The Rhythm of Fit.In this chapter May explains how our innovations must fit with the needs of society. How they must be "the right thing, at the right time in the right form, for the right people." In order to accomplish this fit, May writes that we need to employ systems thinking. We must provide solutions within the current context or we must provide a new context. He uses the example of Thomas Edison designing the entire electrical system in order to provide the context for his light bulb. Without systems thinking, May points out that we can have major failure such as the United Airline automated baggage system at Denver International Airport which delayed the opening of the airport for a year and caused the airline ten painful years of operation as it regularly damaged or lost luggage, and the disaster in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. May says that every solution has three dimensions - solid structure, strong systems and social significance. That great innovation must focus on each dimension. That we cannot think outside of the box. If our thinking will not fit in the box, we must build a new box.Chapter 4: Let Learning LeadIn this chapter, May tells us that while learning and innovation "go hand in hand" the learning must come before there can be innovation. It is through learning that ideas are converted into action. He says that it is accomplished through a cycle of steps. And that cycle of steps is The Scientific Method: Questioning, Solving, Experimenting, And Reflecting. There are several other versions of the cycle. Walter Shewhart called it Plan, Do, Study, Act or PDSA. Dr. W. Edward Deming taught it to the Japanese after World War II and changed it to Plan, Do, Check, Act or PDCA. Capt. John Boyd, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot called it Observe, Orient, Decide, Act or OODA. The Department of Defense uses it in its Spiral Development process. Police forces call it Scan, Analyze, Respond, Assess or SARA. But they are all just variations on the same cycle of learning. May gives us his version of the cycle as a tool. He calls his version I.D.E.A. Loops - a learning cycle for innovation. His cycle is Investigate, Design, Execute, and Adjust. As he brings the chapter to a close, May describes the Japanese practice of Hansei, which means reflection. It is a process conducted in a meeting after a project is completed to perform a rigorous review of the project to see what can be learned. He notes that the U.S. Army practices hansei in its After Action Reviews.Chapter 5: Learn to SeeIn this chapter, May describes the process of genchi genbutsu or go and see. It is part of the Investigate phase of the cycle. He tells us that in order to understand the problem we have to go and see it from the customer's perspective. Only then can we define the problem and design a solution. During genchi genbutsu Toyota uses three ways to understand the problem: "Observe or watch the customer, Infiltrate or become the customer, and Collaborate or involve the customer." May says that if we don't perform this part of the process we risk the "ivory tower peril of basing strategic innovation on prevailing market assumptions and consumer research reports." This led to such great projects as the Ford Edsel.Chapter 6: Design for TodayMay warns that our designs must "focus on clear and present needs." We can "mistake invention for innovation, with the missing link being the principle of fit with society." He describes how to design for today while acting for tomorrow. It is discovering a need that has not been met. He tells us that innovation comes by design and when companies outsource design they outsource innovation. He then shows us how Toyota keeps all of its design in-house. For Toyota, it is a matter of principle, ingenuity of craft. May describes how Toyota used this method to gain market dominance in hybrid technology. Toyota also used this method to exploit a demographic shift to create the Scion brand. The Scion brand is designed to reach out to "the 60 million Generation Y crowd." Toyota innovated today in order to survive tomorrow. To design for today you must have "a firm grasp of the market, society and the customer."Chapter 7: Think in PicturesIn this chapter, May describes how to add a visual element to our designs. He says, "the value of mental imagery and visualization in driving performance is undisputed." He gives us examples of from great visionaries like Walt Disney, Winston Churchill, Henry Ford and Martin Luther King Jr. Pictures and images can be used to "connect people to the intention in a very forceful way, touching hearts and minds." Toyota makes use of these tools in everything it does.Chapter 8: Capture the IntangibleMay writes that the "most compelling solutions are often perceptual and emotional." It is the "intangibles that differentiate and transform." May describes capturing those intangibles as business art. It is these intangible drives that motivate people to buy a product or service. He says, "it's not business, it's personal." May describes several stories about products or companies that people love. He includes the Prius, Apple Computer, JetBlue, Lexus, Studio D, Pottery Barn and Anthropologie.Chapter 9: Leverage the LimitsIn this chapter, May tells us how to use resource constraints to spur ingenuity. His opening paragraph frames the issue. "The entrepreneurial spirit is M.I.A. We're stuck. Stuck in the old school, stuck in the status quo, stuck in stall. We want things done differently, but we can't seem to get there from here. We've lost our edge. The days of rapid innovation are disappearing. There's widespread lethargy." He says that we need to recapture the "start-up spirit." We need to thrive on the challenge of limits. To achieve innovation we need to exploit limits.Chapter 10: Master the TensionIn this chapter, May calls for us to work through the tension between an obvious solution and the elegant solution that is a true innovation. This requires finding a solution that solves conflicting goals. It requires us not to stop when the solution is good enough, but to keep working to get the best solution. He writes, "great innovation is often born of an ability to harmonize opposing tensions."Chapter 11: Run the NumbersIn Chapter 11, May encourages us to back up our ideas with facts, to "do the math." He explains the dangers involved in using instinct instead of facts to make decisions. The ability of our intuition to associate information based on existing patters is a downside for innovative problem solving. May provides several examples of using facts and information to counteract conventional wisdom including Google, the Oakland A's and PayPal. May shows how all of the examples make use of a tool he calls the "slack point." "The slack point is an undetected and counterintuitive inefficiency found through analysis of data."Chapter 12: Make Kaizen MandatoryKaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement. He says that continuous improvement "is all about idea submission, not acceptance." It is "the de facto incubator for consistent business innovation." May describes three steps to kaizen, creating a standard, following the standard then finding a better way and finally repeating the steps endlessly. May describes how the idea of kaizen actually is American made and it came from Deming's work during World War II in the Training Within Industries Service. The American government sent Deming to Japan after the war to help General MacArthur rebuild the Japanese economy. At the same time, the strategy of continuous improvement disappeared from American industry after the war.Chapter 13: Keep It LeanMay says that complexity can kill innovation. That we should make it simple. He tells us to "start thinking lean." That we should build our solution "from the customer back and drive out anything connected with complexity." May goes on to explain that lean means "doing more of what matters by eliminating what doesn't." He describes the roots of lean thinking and goes into the details of how to be lean. May uses several stories to describe the lean way of thinking including Quadrant Homes, MinuteClinic, Leapfrog and Dell.Chapter 14: The Clamshell StrategyMay describes the clamshell strategy as the leader providing the "necessary air cover and support from the top" while "the team does the heavy lifting from the bottom. And a pearl of innovation results." May then describes the do's and don't of implementing this strategy. He says that micromanaging innovation is self-defeating and pointless. That innovation has to have a "chief design engineer" role that models innovation, is a mentor to those who are doing the innovation and who monitors the progress of innovation.Chapter 15: The Elegant SolutionChapter 15 is the story of how a team from the Los Angeles Police Department used May's methods to create an innovative solution to a problem at the city's jails. He documents how a cross-functional team met for one day and came up with a solution to a very real and costly problem. May then concludes the book with some final words of encouragement for those who want to put his ideas into action.This book is a great book if you are a leader of an organization seeking to create innovative solutions. However, it includes many practices that even a team leader within a larger organization can use to help his team be innovative. I strongly recommend May's book.
When I asked people who employ lean manufacturing techniques, "what one book should I buy to help in my study", this book was mentioned the most. Now that I have read it, I encourage anyone who is interested in preventing waste and becoming more efficient to purchase this book. This book is a classic and it will be on my shelf as a resource and will be re-read often. Start getting ahead of your competition by purchasing this book.
I work in a technology industry and was intrigued when I came across this book. I was amazed on how Matthew E May makes a case for the elegant solution. I found the book easy to understand and the tools presented in this book are quite frankly common sense if we think about it deeply. Unfortunately the fundamental problem is we don't think as deeply as we should to address complex problems. This book shows the way on "how to" but it all comes down to "if" we want to do it. Rest assured the journey is not easy, but nobody said that success comes easy!
perfect
Business tools like six sigma and TOC are the "ante" required to "get in the game". Many possess profound knowledge of the tools, but that is insufficient. Matt May helps leaders understand that real, enduring success derives from a lean culture fanatically committed over the long run to continual small improvements, to the care of its customers, and to the welfare of the society of which it is a part.
A must read for learning how to implement and sustain continuous improvement enabking lean to become part of the compny's culture
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