“Flying” in the Toyota Way

Posted by Colin Hensley on August 07, 2009 in Uncategorized

On our recent vacation I had a lot of fun on the flying trapeze. This involves flinging yourself into space hanging on to a bar, then after executing some physical contortions to get into a specific position, letting go and being caught by the brave catcher at the other side.

As I prepared to leap, I thought about the teamwork and coordination that was required to be able to welcome a complete novice to the trapeze and an hour later have them being caught. There are four people in the team. The first is on the ground checking belts, teaching new positions and keeping things in good order. The second is at the top of the ladder; they fasten on the safety rope, and get the flyer into position, before sending them off into the void. The third is the catcher, who swings upside down waiting for the flyer to head directly at them. The fourth is basically in-charge, and controls the safety rope, and the overall timing of the activity.

Each one of the team takes responsibility for the flyer at their point in the process, and ensures that no problems are passed on to the next person. It’s a demonstration of great teamwork, combining synchronisation with complete trust in each other. Furthermore, giving the flyer the chance to repeat their position a number of times allows them to continuously improve their skill. I realised this is very like the Toyota’s “Total Quality Control” system in many ways, where you always depend on the person before you to deliver you what’s needed, and importantly take responsibility for delivering to your customer, the next person in the process. This way you can build-in quality from the start. Like so many things in our company, it’s a very logical approach to take. For me what is special is that it is formalised and spread through people’s day-to-day thinking through on-the-job training.

Thanks Andrea, Nathalie, Guillaume and Florent, it was a great experience, and a great lesson.

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