The 14 key points of the Toyota Way

In the Book the Toyota Way, Jeffery Likers describe the following 14 key point's of the Toyota Management System


1- Do business with a long term philosophy rather than constantly driving short term gains.
2- Grow leaders from inside your organization.
3- Create a “learning organization” that is continuously improving.
4- Drive decisions through consensus.
5- Empower employees to stop production to fix problems.
6- To understand issues, go see them for yourself rather than simply getting reports from others.
7- Respect your suppliers and network of supporters.
8- Create continuous product flow to expose quality problems.
9- Create pull systems to regulate work.
10- Create visual inventory control.
11- Level the work load so groups are equally balanced.
12- Use reliable and stable technology.
13- Employ exceptional people.
14- Standardize processes and tasks.

Please note that from these key points we can identify 6 that relate directly with employee development:


1. Base all operations and activities on fostering the long-term future of the company,
not on achieving short-term profits or immediate stock value. Invest heavily in employees, their careers, their training and their future.

2. Standardize whenever possible. Empower workers to perform as trusted partners so
they continuously perfect all of the company’s production and work processes. This
will increase efficiency and reduce waste.

3. Ensure that all managers and supervisors thoroughly understand their responsibilities
and can capably instruct their subordinates. Being a good teacher is the most important job requirement for individuals in positions of authority.

4. Establish teams of highly trained employees who can work together seamlessly.

5. Understand that suppliers represent a vital link in your production chain. Help your independent contractors develop and train their employees so they can support your overall production mission.

6. Plan and organize everything so that learning and improving are constant processes
for workers, supervisors and executives.

is your company following any of these?