Leadership Course

Kata Mindset

Transform the way your team works, learns, and grows.

What Is Kata in Continuous Improvement?

Kata is a structured approach to continuous improvement that uses repeated routines to build problem-solving skills and improve performance over time. Originating from the Toyota Production System, it focuses on practicing small, iterative steps toward a target condition while developing a mindset of learning, experimentation, and adaptation.

Course Summary

Discounts

The following GoBlue pricing discounts are available and cannot be combined. Please contact us at [email protected] for a promotional code that will allow you to apply the eligible discount to your registration.

With 15 or more enrollments, you may want to consider a custom program for your organization. Please contact us to learn more about our partnership opportunities.

Once you have paid, a discount cannot be added retroactively.

THESE DISCOUNTS ARE NOT APPLICABLE FOR PARTNER PROGRAMS.

Name	Details	Level
Group Discount Level 1	Enroll 3-4 participants in one course offering.	5%
Group Discount Level 2	Enroll 5 or more participants in one course offering.	10%
U.S. Government	Current employees with .gov email (not applicable to government contractors).	10%
U.S. Military	Active duty personnel, reservists, retired or disabled veterans.	10%
Students	Currently enrolled student from any university; please send photo of date-stamped student ID.	10%
Michigan Engineering Professional Education Alumni	Past participants of any Michigan Engineering Professional Education certificate course.	10%
U-M Alumni	U-M alumni from any school or department – please send uniqname to [email protected] for confirmation.	20%
U-M Students and Staff	Current U-M students, faculty, and staff – please send uniqname to [email protected] for confirmation.	20%

	Instruction Time	Completion Time	CEUs
Kata Mindset	9:00am - 12:30pm ET	Four 2-hour sessions	2.75

Discover new pathways and propel improvement efforts forward through deliberate structure and routine by employing the Kata mindset. Toyota Kata is a systematic approach that builds habits, allows practitioners to trust their own scientific thinking, and enables the capacity for learning, experimentation and creativity. By engaging leaders as coaches, there is an opportunity to connect the frontline work to the highest organizational objectives. Teams can focus on workable challenges that require a culture of learning. Beginning at the executive level, these culture shifts evolve through the work of daily practice and are as much a means as they are an end result of deliberately developing organizations.

Learning Objectives

Understand the relational and performance impact of the intersection of mindsets, skills sets, and tool sets
Reframe problems and opportunities into workable challenges aligned with strategic priorities that pull people and performance toward their potential
Connect all levels of an organization through deliberate and purposeful learning patterns
Discover leadership coaching fundamentals that build, bridge, and connect teams to future organizational possibilities
Design a strategic plan to cascade the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata through your organization

Course Overview

In this course, participants will practice reframing problems into challenges aligned with clear strategic priorities and breaking them down into actionable patterns to be understood and carried out at all levels of an organization. Participants will practice the Improvement Kata and the Coaching Kata to awaken scientific thinking and to learn coaching fundamentals for leaders. This course is highly interactive and is based on experiential learning, participatory design, and collaboration.

Who Should Attend

Industry leaders, change agents, and interdisciplinary teams navigating the challenges of bridging strategy to operational change in complex systems such as government, nonprofits, and healthcare industries.

Credentials

Digital Badge

Digital badge earned after successful completion of this course.

Digital Certificate

Certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of this course.

Instructional Team

Toni Benner

Lead Faculty
Lean Specialist and Instructor, Michigan Engineering Professional Education
Founder and Lean Transformation Coach, Healthcare 2020

Additional Information

How Kata Is Used in Industry?

Kata skills are applied by engineers and technical professionals to improve real-world systems and organizational performance. Companies use these methods to solve technical problems, optimize processes, guide innovation, and support better engineering decisions across teams.

Skills

Daily coaching routines; iterative experimentation; structured problem solving; learner coaching; improvement habits.

Audience

Leaders, coaches, and improvement practitioners building daily problem-solving habits on teams.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What does Kata Mindset cover? Kata Mindset introduces the routines and coaching habits that build continuous improvement into daily work. Participants learn how improvement kata and coaching kata create better problem solving, stronger learning cycles, and more engaged teams.

Who should take Kata Mindset? Leaders, coaches, and improvement practitioners building daily problem-solving habits on teams.

How is Kata Mindset used in practice? Leaders use kata routines to build everyday coaching, experimentation, and problem solving into normal team operations.

Questions Professionals Also Ask

What is improvement kata? What is coaching kata? How do daily routines build improvement culture?

Related Courses

Master Black Belt, Enterprise Excellence, Change Management, Organization Design

View Knowledge Base

Get Started

For more information or answers to any questions please email [email protected] or fill out the form.