A great resource for leaders in test and quality – A review of “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” by Katie Anderson
The Toyota leader Isao Yoshino learned many lessons during his career. Katie Anderson shares these lessons in “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn “, which I have just read with the Profound Book Club. Toyota has made so many innovations in quality. If you are a Test\QE\QA Manager or Lead or want to become one this book will give you many insights that will help you build your own chain of learning to become a people-centred leader.
Originally Toyota made looms and this book is built around the warp and weft of Yoshino’s career. The warp threads of Yoshino’s career are the purpose of his career and the weft threads are the lessons of his career.
Each chapter finishes with reflection questions. These questions helped me think through how the lessons from the chapter can be applied to my work.
Toyota created the two-year ‘Kan-pro’ programme for all senior managers because all departments played a role in quality and success. The programme reinforced key management capabilities such as writing an A3 to make thinking visible. Yoshino was part of the task force that ran the programme. A key lesson he learned was that learning can not be delegated, managers should write their own A3’s and not delegate writing them.[1]
Yoshino’s career includes being involved in the success of NUMMI and the failure of Toyota’s water-ski boat business.
“The only secret to Toyota is its attitude to learning”[2]. Hansei is the key to learning. Hansei is the “check and adjust” part of the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle [2].
Yoshino learned that “No problem is a problem”. Leaders should hear “bad news” so people can work together to find solutions. He was praised when he gave the President of Toyota bad news about the water-ski boat business.[3]
The lessons from the failure of the ware-ski boat business are enlightening. Yoshino said that “failure isn’t failure if you learned something important you could never have learned elsewhere”[4].
Yoshino felt a key personal lesson from the failure of the water-ski business was his failure to use hoshin kanri, Toyota’s strategic planning and checking process. Under pressure, he developed the document alone. He skipped “engaging his people in conversation and input”[3]
I would like to thank the Profound Book Club for the great discussions that we had as we read the book. I learned a great deal not just from the book but also from the discussions.
Leaders in testing need to be learning continually. Katie Anderson finishes the book with these words: “Never stop learning. Never stop leading. Never stop weaving a life of purpose”[5]
What a useful book!
References
[1] Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson (2020, Case Study #1)
[2] Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson (2020, Introduction)
[3] Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson (2020, Phase #4)
[4] Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson (2020, Part 11)
[5] Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson (2020, Conclusion)
Further reading: