Toyota Kata Resources
The Toyota Kata framework turns scientific thinking into a practical skill anyone, and any organization, can learn through the deliberate practice of a four step learning and discovery process.
Toyota Kata - Practice Makes Progress
As part of our growing School of Lean library of courses, Toyota Kata - Practice Makes Progress, will guide you from the very beginning of Kata learning to being able to implement your own Kata experiments within a few days.
Through this course you will learn how to make lasting change, and where to start making your improvements.
Kata in the Classroom
The 4-step Improvement Kata makes for some great classroom exercises for participants of all ages! Watch our free Kata in the classroom videos to see how to run your own KiC events. Also make sure to download all of the materials from Mike Rother's Kata in the Classroom website.
How Do You Get Started with Toyota Kata?
Some wrongly believe that Toyota Kata is a problem solving methodology. And while kata routines often result in improvements, the true purpose of the kata thinking system is to:
- Discover
- Learn
- Innovate
Albert Einstein once said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This quote beautifully summarizes what Toyota Kata practitioners call the “Improvement Kata.”
The Improvement Kata follows an easy to learn, but difficult to master, 4-step learning process.

What is the 4 Step Improvement Kata Process?
- Understand the direction or challenge: In this first step we determine the problem we are trying to solve.
- Grasp the current condition: Once we define the challenge, we need to understand not only what we know to be true now, and also what we do not yet know. Put another way, we attempt to deeply understand the current condition.
- Establish the next target condition: Using an American football analogy, if the "challenge" is to score a touchdown...the target condition may very well be to get a first down. In other words, the target condition brings us one step closer to the challenge.
- Experiment against obstacles: Once a target condition is established, we then identify the obstacles in our way. These obstacles allow us to define, and run experiments against them in order to learn what works, and what doesn't.

How Do You Teach the Improvement Kata?
One thing athletes have in common with those learning the Improvement Kata is that both need a good coach.
More importantly, Kata Coaches need to have a consistent routine for teaching the Improvement Kata. This routine is clearly defined with the Coaching Kata.
The Kata coach uses five coaching questions during each coaching cycle. The learner responds to these questions by sharing what they have learned since the last coaching session. Coaching sessions usually last around 10 minutes and need to happen on a regular, often daily, basis.
Toyota Kata Podcasts
Our free Kata podcasts provide real world insights into practicing Kata.

How to Teach Kata in the Classroom
The tables are turned as Mike Rother interviews Ron Pereira about his experiences teaching Kata in the Classroom.

How to Think Scientifically
Stephen Derksen discusses how to start thinking scientifically using Toyota Kata.

Leveraging the Toyota Kata Approach to Learning & Coaching
Hear from Michael Lombard on how his hospital leverages Kata for learning and coaching.

How to Apply Toyota Kata
Amy Mervak, Chief Quality and Compliance Officer at Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, discusses how she and her team have been able to apply Kata.

How to Leverage the Improvement and Coaching Katas
Hear what makes Kata so valuable from Kata expert Mark Rosenthal.

How to Understand the Components of Kata
Kata expert Brandon Brown returns to the podcast to provide a comprehensive breakdown of both the improvement and coaching katas.
Listen to more great podcasts at gembapodcast.com
Additional Video Content
Some of these videos are protected. But don’t worry… if you’re not a Gemba Academy subscriber you can still request a 3-day trial which unlocks our entire library.
- Toyota Kata Course - Practice Makes Perfect
- How Kata is Being Used to Deploy TWI at Baptist Memorial Healthcare
- Michael Lombard - 10 Lessons from Practicing Toyota Kata
- DSS Launches an Ambitious Project
- Will Lichtig - Using Kata to Address Wicked Problems in Safety
Blog Articles
New blog articles are published weekly. The following collection of articles are Toyota Kata focused.
- Kata in the Classroom
- Avoid the Ambush
- Has Anyone Seen My Target Condition?
- Learn, Grow, Share
- You Want Me to Do What!?!
- I Feel Better Already
- Lean Lessons From Driving on the Left Side of the Road
More Toyota Kata Resources
The following resources can help you on your Toyota Kata journey.
- Book: Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results by Mike Rother
- Book: Toyota Kata Practice Guide by Mike Rother
- Book: Toyota Kata Culture: Building Organizational Capability and Midset through Kata Coaching by Mike Rother and Gerd Aulinger
- Event: Kata Summit
- Resource: Mike Rother's Toyota Kata Website
- Resource: Kata in the Classroom Website
- Resource: Toyota Kata YouTube Channel
- Consulting: On-Site Toyota Kata Training
Stay up to date on Kata
Make sure to sign up for our newsletter for all of our new video release notifications, lean news, podcasts and more!
Your message has been sent. We'll get back to you soon!
Sorry, there was an error with your submission: