Contents: The situation. What defines a company that thrives long term? -- Know yourself. How are we approaching process improvement? ; Philosophy and direction ; Origin and effects of our current management approach -- The improvement kata : how Toyota continuously improves. Planning : establishing a target condition ; Problem solving and adapting : moving toward a target condition -- The coaching kata : how Toyota teaches the improvement kata. Who carries out process improvement at Toyota? ; The coaching kata : leaders as teachers -- Replication : what about other companies? Developing improvement kata behavior in your organization -- Appendix 1 : where do you start with the improvement kata? -- Appendix 2 : process analysis.