Slow Tech, The Toyota Way

PRAISE FOR TECH & AI THE TOYOTA WAY “People are the best source of change—even technological—and that’s what this book makes possible: a culture where improvement is everyone’s job and progress is inevitable.” —DR. ERIC DICKSON, President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health “In this fantastic book Jeff Liker explores an underappreciated side of Toyota: how aggressively innovative it is, not by being quick but by getting it right!” —MICHAEL BALLÉ, PhD, co-author of The Gold Mine and 5-time Shingo Prize Winner “Cutting through the excitement surrounding digital tools and AI, this book offers a thoughtful, practical framework for helping your organization learn before it scales, shifting focus from the tools to the organizational capability needed to develop and use them wisely.” —MIKE ROTHER, author of Toyota Kata “Professor Liker has grown to understand and share the Toyota Way on a level I have?not seen outside Toyota. The Toyota Production System is fundamentally a?problem-solving system to drive performance and engagement. Tech and AI offer exciting potential to amplify human problem solving, not replace it. This is a timely, needed explanation based on real, gemba applications of how LEAN and Tech should work together.” —JAMIE BONINI, President of Toyota Production System Support Center at Toyota Motor North America “‘Jidoka is a humanistic approach to the human-machine interface. It liberates humans from the tyranny of the machine, freeing them to concentrate on tasks that involve exercising human creativity and judgment.’ (Toyota Production System, TMC 1992). Toyota has been philosophically and pragmatically pursuing this core precept since the very founding of the enterprise. Jeffrey Liker shares as never before the ramifications and practical applications of Toyota’s approach to technology as the human race faces its greatest technological challenge ever.” —JOHN SHOOK, First American Manager for Toyota in Japan “I have seen firsthand that success of AI and industrial technology depends far more on culture and execution discipline than on algorithms. Dr. Liker masterfully captures how organizations can combine the principles of the Toyota Production System with modern technology to achieve transformational results.” —JEREMY FRANK, CEO and Founder, KCF Technologies Key lessons from Toyota on how prudent, targeted technology that addresses specific business needs can be more effective than throwing AI and Tech against the wall in the name of modernization. We are bombarded every day with the latest news about the AI revolution, the latest “tech bros” start-up, and the hot new digital solutions to all our problems. The recurring theme is that the tech world has radically transformed and if we do not digitally transform we will go the way of the dinosaurs. Tech and AI, The Toyota Way challenges organizations to move beyond the pressure to “catch up” with AI and focus instead on what effective improvement has always required: a defined business challenge. Through ten timeless principles Dr. Liker shows that lasting improvement starts with understanding the work, identifying opportunities for improvement, and thoughtfully testing technology where it can deliver the greatest value. Technology should serve the challenge, not be the challenge. At Toyota Tech amplifies lean processes and highly-developed people instead of replacing human thinking with machines. Core cases from Toyota and other companies that have been inspired by Toyota’s lean approach are included throughout to show the efficacy of a more thoughtful and methodical approach to change. Readers will learn how to: Consider a range of total value-stream objectives, instead of focusing only on short-term, cost-oriented technology objectives Develop technologies that are fine tuned to support your people and processes Train people through deliberate practice to think scientifically and objectively to test, improve and get the most out technologies Develop in-house capabilities to create and modify technology in order to avoid overdependence on vendors Tech and AI, The Toyota Way shows business leaders and executives how to harness patience, long-term thinking, and careful planning to achieve strategic goals through the perfect combination of breakthrough and routine technologies.