These days it is common for companies to want their managers to be coaches instead of autocrats.  They want them to engage and develop their people.  But how?  Telling someone how you want them to change their behavior is a losing proposition.  Dr. Liker talks about his new book with Tilo Schwarz, “Giving Wings to Her Team,” a business novel about the process of learning to coach the Toyota Kata Way.  Through deliberate practice of kata, small practice routines, Denise learns to coach her team in scientific thinking to achieve breakthrough goals.

About Jeff Liker

Jeffrey K. Liker is Professor Emeritus, Industrial and Operations Engineering at The University of Michigan and President of Liker Lean Advisors, LLC. He is author of the best-selling book, The Toyota Way, Second Edition, and has coauthored nine other books about Toyota including The Toyota Way to Service Excellence, and The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership.  His graphic novel with Eduardo Lander and Tom Root tells the story of lean transformation at a mail-order company:  Lean in a High-Variability Business.  His articles and books have won thirteen Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence. He was inducted into the Association of Manufacturing Excellence Hall of Fame and the Shingo Academy