Why Thinking and Action Matter More Than Templates in Lean

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A key takeaway from Katie Anderson's Japan Study Trip resonated deeply with me: thinking and action are far more important than templates. This insight, shared by Isao Yoshino, a retired Toyota executive, and other leaders we met at various companies, has significant implications for how we approach improvement practices.

Read my blog posts from all of my Japan tours

This theme is particularly relevant to methodologies like A3 problem-solving and hoshin kanri (strategy deployment). It's all too easy to get caught up in the details of the template–whether it's the layout, the boxes, or the software–while losing sight of the true purpose.

As we heard repeatedly during the trip:

“The template isn't the most important thing.”

Two Examples, One Truth

Here are two contrasting examples of templates:

  1. A DMAIC-based A3 from an American hospital (on the left)
  2. A “10-box” style template from a Japanese manufacturing company (right)

Does the size of the paper matter? Whether it's hand-drawn or digital? Portrait or landscape? These are secondary concerns. What really matters is whether the template serves as a tool for scientific thinking, structured problem-solving, and iterative improvement.

The Japanese template has these boxes, by the way, in the “Process improvement report,” starting with the “theme”:

  1. Reason
  2. Current State
  3. Goal
  4. Plan
  5. Factor (“cause”)
  6. Investigation
  7. Measures
  8. Effect
  9. Standardization
  10. Reflection and Future

Mindset Over Mechanics

I'd much rather see a messy, hand-drawn A3 on a whiteboard (or paper) that reflects real PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Adjust) cycles than a perfectly formatted document that's merely a formality. A3 problem-solving is meant to be dynamic, iterative, and reflective of active learning.

When Lean tools are reduced to “tick box” exercises, we risk losing the essence of Lean itself. The real impact comes from the mindset, behaviors, and processes that drive these tools–not the tools in isolation.

What's Your Experience?

How do you emphasize thinking and action over the format of templates in your improvement work? Let's focus on what truly matters: fostering the scientific thinking and iterative action that lead to meaningful results.


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Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

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