A3 - Toyota’s way of solving problems and creating plans

A3Toyota’s way of

solving problemsand creating plans

• World’s Best Presentation Contest 2009 ongoing

• Good results last year

• High visibility with no cost

• Most important promotional event of the year

• Too late to participate unless come up with a simple idea and implement it fast

1. Background

Problems

• No idea, no time, no budget, heavy competition

2. Current conditions

• Create a well designed presentation with relevant content in the Business category

• Keep it simple

• Spend no money

• Meet or exceed last year’s performance

3. Goals and targets

4. Analysis

Las

t min

ute

co

nte

st e

ntr

y

Competitorinformation

Idea

Schedule

Highquality

?

One weekendtime left

World class mgmtconsultants anddesigners entered

No idea, slow reaction, late to market

One month lost onholiday and business trip

Cause

A

C

B

5. Proposed countermeasuresCause Counter-

measureDescription Benefit Responsible

A Brainstorm ideas Encourage Wild Ideas. Build on the Ideas of Others. Stay Focused on the Topic

Source of inspiration and fresh thinking

Samuli

B Match competitor quality

Implement lessons learned about presentations

Keep it simple Samuli

C A3, Toyota’s way of solving problemsand creating plans

Mechanism of attacking problems and creating plans on one A3 sheet of paper

Structured, simple and visual approach

Samuli

• Contest results available Sep 22nd

6. Plan

7. Follow up

Aug 3rd Sep 8th

Idea research and selection by Sep 4th

Plan and prepare presentation by Sep 5th

Enter Contest on Sep 5th

Distribute presentation on Sep 5th

Samuli Pahkala

http://managerstoolbox.blogspot.com/