The Toyota Way by Liker

The Toyota Way: by Jeffrey Liker:  I first “read” this book ten years ago or so.  I put “read” in quotes because I really just skimmed it. 

I came back to it because many of the principles discussed in came up in conversations in my trip to a manufacturing facility in Singapore.  I decided to buzz through it as part of my “20 PAD” (twenty pages a day project) – and I got through it in just over 2 weeks. 

20 PAD means I read a little each day – and don’t just devour the book.  There is some disadvantage in that I read perhaps less than I could or should but that also means I get to consume the content I read in smaller chunks – and then consider and think on it.  For a book like this, versus say fiction, this is a preferred approach for me.

I did deviate from 20 pages a day when it made sense.  If I was in the middle of a chapter, I’d finish that (as long as I met the 20 minimum).  I didn’t count the side bar case studies in the text either.

This text came out in 2005, and so it is interesting because there is a “timing” issue here with the book given its age.  Some manufacturing principles and approaches, including the philosophies coming out of Japan appear to be timeless, but others have shifted.  And while the text is not written for software manufacturers, there is clearly the foundation elements for what is considered core doctrine in “Agile” methodologies today.

It was a good read (I think if I am hating a read outright I will just drop the text and move on) and glad I made this refresher one of my first back in the 20PAD “project.”

Next up is another that I have discussed or skimmed in the past – Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages.”    TZ has mentioned this book several times in the past decade and I have eyeballed it quickly.  I have heard it mentioned enough by people when they describe their relationships, I figured it is time to actually read it. 

The Business of Expertise

I got through the two days of Pack Burro Racing over the weekend generally unscathed, meaning I did not have any mishaps like falling or getting stepped on by a donkey, but I was a touch sore from some of the effort.  Nonetheless, I felt good enough to run a bit quicker on Monday, and then came back on Tuesday for a good hill fartlek.  Greg hit me up for a fartlek Wednesday morning and I took the bait.  So of course on Thursday I felt horrible and then I caught the crud that KZ had been carrying. 

Thursday evening we picked up JZ at the airport after his week of this.

His track season ended with him being hobbled by an angry shin.  Sitting on a 51 foot boat in the Bahamas has made not running an easy affair.  His recovery seems to be coming along nicely. 

I have been “reading” (really I am listening to it as an audiobook) David Baker’s “The Business of Expertise.”  Its foundational concepts are “experts develop insight by isolating patterns in data; they convert those insights to wealth by crafting a unique positioning for which few available substitutes exist; and their confidence grows as the marketplace embraces their application of expertise.”

I have certainly recognized that pattern recognition is the basis of almost any expertise.  I see this in my work, sometime almost surprisingly so.  Many of the organizations I deal with, despite being very different in the product and services they provide, share many similarities (or patterns).  I see it in coaching – in that good coaches recognize what is going well, what is not, how an athlete is responding or not.  It comes with seeing a pattern enough times that it is quickly evident to be recognized by the trained eye. 

The unique positioning is a different challenge because while you may be able to recognize a pattern, it has no economical value if the positioning of that is not considered unique.  For example in Broomfield, 10 years ago there was only one microbrewery – and it was the one that everyone flocked to. The beer was good, but the location was small and uninteresting.   As the craft brewing market exploded and several of these establishments came into town, with beer as good (maybe sometimes better or even worse) the unique nature of what the original had to offer faded.  They have since moved out of town.

The confidence growing as the marketplace embraces their expertise is an interesting concept.  I struggle between a confidence in “hey I know what I am talking about because I have seen this countless times before” and recognizing that I am seeking the exception, the difference or that I could be wrong this time.  It is a dichotomy that always needs to be considered.

Good read – (or listen) – I’d recommend it.