NEW BOOK! TWI Job Instruction Training

What a great way to start the New Year! Or as Jon Miller likes to call it, an Arbitrary Dividing Line in Time :)

Regardless of the time of the year, it is always the right time to pick up a new skill. As of today Mark Warren of Tesla 2, Inc. and I have released our first book: Job Instruction Training: Participant's Sessions Guide & Implementation Manual

(Click on image to left for ordering information)

We are really excited about this, but what is this all about? The basic idea was this: there are a lot of people out there that are using Job Instruction and other TWI J-skills based on several premises:

1) We know it was used at Toyota after the war, (if it works for them, then we should do it)

2) many have mistakenly pigeonholed JI as Standard Work, (Toyota does Standard Work, so we should at least do this!)

3) and recently, many professionals have billed and marketed TWI as one of the foundation stones of lean.

but...TWI blog readers who have been through the archival material on my sites (and in the past year, have visited Mark's newly acquired archive records) intuitively know there is a lot more to know about TWI than what is currently available in a simple 10 hr training session.

This book is our attempt to fill that void of information between the famous 10 hr session and what might be considered a successful implementation. So, the book is divided into two parts. Part One is the Participant's Guide. Our guide follows the best known practices for a 10 hr Job Instruction Session. This would normally be unremarkable, except our book can be used as a self-study guide with the included answer key and references throughout Part One.

Part Two is in chapter format and expands on the concepts learned in the sessions, but also insists on the requirements for sound implementation. This is the first aim of the book - to provide the reader with the things you should know about Job Instruction before you start, but won't find out even in a 10 hr training session. The reason for this combination of guide, concepts and reference is born from experience and the research Mark and I have done over the past two years.

Who is this book aimed at? In keeping with the spirit of Job Instruction - one can learn by doing. So, anyone can use it. But trainers can use the standardized participants guide that will follow most reputable trainer's guides today. To this end, the book is sold in groups of ten to meet this training need, coupled with discounts of single volume sales to keep session costs down.

We also hope this book will succeed in providing a source for those individuals who are unable to attend a Job Instruction session for logistic, economic or other reasons. These thousands of small business owners and individuals who are limited to self study and implementation are at ease knowing they are practicing at the leading edge of JI training without the expense of travel to a 10 hr sessions. By using the included answer key and then digging into the meaty Part Two, one can dig deeper into the concepts of the J-skills in order to expand their leadership ability.

Ordering information for single volumes can be found by clicking here. Contact me with any questions at the email above! To expand on this, look for a trainer's manual between now and February!

Trainers: Order kits of 10 for your Job Instruction Session by clicking here!

Upcoming TWI Webcast with Tom Southworth

When January 13, 12:00-1:00pm

Who: Tom Southworth of Connstep

What: Join Tom Southworth of CONNSTEP, Connecticut's only certified TWI program provider, for this one-hour webcast where you will learn how TWI Job Instruction allows companies to standardize methods, reduce employee errors and shorten the training interval for new or transferred employees.

Why: "You will not become Lean by doing TWI, but you will not become Lean without doing TWI." Jim Huntzinger

Link to register for this TWI Webcast

Aravind on TED - World Class Eyecare in India

As a follow up to my last blogpost, "Healthcare Modeled after McDonald's," TWI Blog reader Jason Yip provides this link to the fantastic website TED - Ideas Worth Spreading. The "talk" is by Thulasiraj Ravilla and the title of his talk is: How low-cost eye care can be world-class


Several clips in the talk feature the creator of the AES, or Aravined Eyecare System, by Dr. Venkataswamy. Yes, I just acronym-ed that! - Now, there were three things that struck me as significant about Dr. V's comments:

Dr. Venkataswamy: "I used to sit with the ordinary village man because I am from a village and suddenly you turn around and seem to contact his inner being, you seem to be one with him. Here is a soul which has got all the simplicity of confidence. Doctor, whatever you say, I accept it. An implicit faith in you and then you respond to it. Here is an old lady who has got so much faith in me, I must do my best for her."

Dr. V has been to genba and he knows what it will take to solve the problems of blindness, and he knows how to do it.

"See, McDonald's' concept is simple. They feel they can train people all over the world, irrespective of different religions, cultures, all those things, to produce a product in the same way and deliver it in the same manner in hundreds of places."

His dilemma was not necessarily the problem of blindness, he knew how to treat that. His problem was how to deliver high quality, consistent treatment to the people who needed it. He saw the problem of making burgers in the same light. Just about anyone can make a killer burger if they try hard enough, but how many can do it consistently, in quantities of billions?

"Supposing I'm able to produce eye care, techniques, methods, all in the same way, and make it available in every corner of the world. The problem of blindness is gone."

He adapted the concept of McDonald's efficency and production concepts to eyecare and saw that as the means to tackle the problem of blindness. Admittedly, he is doing many things differently than McDonalds would, like giving away services for free and still making a profit.

I think there is a lot to be learned from this organization, but I have a lot of questions. For one, are the costs kept down mostly through volunteerism? When Ravilla says they are comparing apples to apples with the U.K. system, the element of volunteerism is overlooked by the laughing audience. I don't know anything about Indian government or politics - how much of this organization's services are subsidized by the government, if any at all? This would be another point of comparison that can not be lost as Mr. Ravilla suggests we desire seeing "Obama's ratings go up again." Answers to these questions may reveal that the Aravind Eyecare System is an orange to our apple.