Toshiko Narusawa, co-author with John Shook of Kaizen Express, illustrates Taiichi Ohno’s comparison of workplace teamwork to passing a baton. Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System, said companies could learn a critical lesson from runners passing a baton. He called the lesson “mutual assistance teamwork” where team members support each other, as a runner waiting for the next stage of the race would react to the runner in the previous stage, who might be struggling, and reach back to provide support and execute a clean handoff.
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Mutual Assistance Teamwork
Toshiko Narusawa, co-author with John Shook of Kaizen Express, illustrates Taiichi Ohno’s comparison of workplace teamwork to passing a baton. Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System, said companies could learn a critical lesson from runners passing a baton. He called the lesson “mutual assistance teamwork” where team members support each other, as a runner waiting for the next stage of the race would react to the runner in the previous stage, who might be struggling, and reach back to provide support and execute a clean handoff.
