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 | | The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation by Matthew E. May, Kevin Roberts (Foreword) ISBN-10: 9780743290173 ISBN-10: 0-7432-9017-8 ISBN-13: 9780743290173 ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-9017-3 Hardcover 2006-10-10 Free Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description "Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success." -- Fortune, February 2006 For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda combined). In a rare look into Toyota's ability to consistently achieve breakthroughs that outperform the competition, The Elegant Solution explains what Toyota associates have known all along: it's not about the cars. Rather, Toyota's astounding success is just the visible result of a hidden creative process that begins with a seven-digit number. One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization implements every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization -- from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how it's done. Now senior University of Toyota advisor Matthew May shows how any company can achieve an environment of everyday innovation and discover the kinds of elegant solutions that hold the power to change the game forever. World-class benchmarks like Lexus, Prius, Scion -- even Toyota's vaunted production system -- are simply shining examples of elegant solutions. A tactical playbook for team-based innovation, The Elegant Solution delivers powerful lessons in breakthrough thinking in a provocative yet practical guide to the three core principles and ten key practices that shape successful business innovation. Innovation isn't just about technology -- it's about value, opportunity, and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around tapping ingenuity in the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the universal power and applicability of these concepts. A unique "clamshell strategy" prepares managers to successfully lead and sustain the innovation effort. At once a thought-starter and a taskmaster, The Elegant Solution is a vital prescription for anyone wanting to truly master business innovation. | ||
Reviews | ||
Can Be Used for Personal Development I really enjoyed this book. It applies the principles of innovation to an industry that most people don't have familiar "inside" knowledge of. The book is useful not only for business purposes but also for personal development. I loved the sections on the Japanese concept of "hansei." The only criticism I have of the material is that at times it can be a bit dry. Probably to be expected when writing about the automotive industry. | ||
My new Bible I marked probably 30 pages in this book as "Must Know" pages that contain principles that could change the thinking of any business for the better - or more specifically, to be more like Toyota. | ||
A good read This book is a very easy read that made it hard to put it down. The little success stories are very inspiring and great conversation starters. "The Elegant Solution" is written by Matthew E. May an educator on innovation at Toyota's university. I think that Matthew did a really good job of explaining his procedures to making any company run elegantly with examples of his procedures in little side notes and quotes of related stories. This book will not only help you find an elegant solution for your company but for your every day life as well. Be prepared to look at your word with your eyes wide open. | ||
Unreadable Unbelievably bad. Ironically, for a book about innovation, the concepts are trite and the prose consists of one lazy cliche after another. Watch -- I'm going to open the book to a random page and list the cliches: "secret sauce," "blow the doors off," "boil the ocean," "where the action is," "ivory tower," "marching instructions." The book is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who might conceivably want to read it. | ||
A tactical field guide for everyone looking out for elegant solutions to their life pursuits, as innovation is everybody's job! Because of my early influences from Japanese management culture during the eighties, I had bought the above book. In fact, during the nineties, I had also owned & read '40 Years 20 Million Ideas: The Toyota Suggestion System' by Yugo Yasuda (a translated work by Productivity Press, Inc.). From my personal standpoint, I would consider it as a precursor to 'Elegant Solution', as it was the first book to reveal the idea revolution in Toyota, which had its implementation origins since the eighties. I had enjoyed reading both books. In a nutshell, both books were about the nuts & bolts of creating innovation at the workplace, mostly from the team point of view, even though they were practices at Toyota. I found 'Elegant Solution' to be a much more fun book to read because of the myriad of fascinating stories & insightful anecdotes, which the author had artfully used to clarify many of the current tools & practices at Toyota. Frankly, my personal favourite chapters were the first three touching on the 3 core principles of the Toyota Way, followed by 'Chapter 4: Let Learning Lead' (particularly the art & science of reflection); 'Chapter 4: Learn to See', 'Chapter 7: Think in Pictures', & the last two chapters, which more or less summed up the entire book. For me, the crux of the Toyota Way was actually epitomised in the simple reframing exercise illustrated on page 152 of the book. I never knew that there could be such an elegant solution to the simple problem. In my end analysis, I wish to say that 'Elegant Solution' is a tactical field guide for everyone looking out for elegant solutions to their life pursuits, as innovation is everybody's job. | ||