Page 391 - The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Chapter 17

Plan-Do-Check-Act

WE HAVE FINALLY reached the implementation phase! Many people are so
anxious to “get busy” with implementation that they shortcut the previous por-
tions of the process. This is a critical mistake! Without a clearly defined prob-
lem, how would you know what you’re trying to improve and how much you’ll
need to do to reach the goal? You would be firing at a target that does not exist.
Without a thorough analysis, how would you know which target to shoot at?
You’d see many targets (potential problems and causes) and even hit some of
them. But would you achieve the desired result if you shot at the wrong target?
Not likely. You would “fix” some things and know that you’ve done “good
things,” but the important performance indicators would not show improve-
ment. To avoid this frustrating situation, fully complete the problem definition
and root cause analysis phases before moving into implementation.
But take heart. You will actually get to implementation! In fact for some sim-
ple problems, the entire process of thinking through the problem and its causes
and coming up with a solution could be done in a single short meeting. Once
you are convinced you have done a good job to this point in reaching a good
solution to the right problem, there is still a bit of work to do before you charge
off and move stuff around, build racks, or whatever. The famous Shewhart cycle
of plan-do-check-act suggests you should start with a plan. In fact, all of the
work up to this point is part of the planning. But there is still the step of devel-
oping an action plan.

Plan: Develop an Action Plan

There are numerous tools and techniques to assist in the development of an
action plan, including scads of project management software. Except in the case

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