The Toyota Mindset was written by Yoshihito Wakamatsu who worked directly under Taiichi Ohno. The contents of this book is a documentation of his interactions with Taiichi Ohno – what he said, how he said it, and the “why” behind many of the well-known methods in the Toyota Production System.
His book is organized into 10 chapters, each of which he calls “Commandments”, claiming that Taiichi Ohno lived by 10 main ideas and makes a caveat that the word “commandment” are the author’s, not Taiichi Ohno’s.
Below are the 10 main ideas Wakamatsu claims Taiichi Ohno lived by:
- Wastes hide, so start by disclosing all of your mistakes
- Discover the truth beyond your understanding
- Increasing production while limiting the number of workers is the only way to gain true success
- Act on problems right away and do not procastinate
- Don’t feel satisfied by saying “I finished the job”; go beyond that and say ”I can do more”
- Add “Appropriate Timing” to “Appropriate Method” in problem solving
- Believe in “I can” and question “I can’t”
- The key to achieving progress is to never give up
- Don’t do work at an average pace; the shortest way is always the easiest
- Change yourself first, if you want to change someone else
