Defining and explaining what the goal is, sharing a path to achieving it, motivating people to take the journey with you, and assisting them by remov… - Jeffrey K. Liker

management has no more critical role than to motivate and engage large numbers of people to work together toward a common goal. Defining and explaining what the goal is, sharing a path to achieving it, motivating people to take the journey with you, and assisting them by removing obstacles — those are management's reasons for being.

The use of a good process that engages people is much more desirable, even if it does not initially achieve all the results.

In the abstract, science is hard to define, and there are endless philosophical debates over what it means. Rother is not focused as much on defining science per se, but rather on developing a practical approach to teaching people to think scientifically in everyday life. He describes it as:8 a mindset, or way of looking at the world/responding to goals and problems, that’s characterized by . . . Acknowledging that our comprehension is always incomplete and possibly wrong. Assuming that answers will be found by test rather than just deliberation. (You make predictions and test them with experiments.) Appreciating that differences between what we predict will happen and what actually happens can be a useful source of learning and corrective adjustment.

Toyota’s concept of a good process is one that expects and reveals problems, without blame, not one that is problem-free.