Want to be an effective Improvement Kata coach? Starter Kata are practice routines of fundamentals that help you develop new habits of acting and thinking. Establish a baseline of fundamental skills, and then build on it and advance your coaching skill development. Kata are a starter—establish a baseline and then build on it and advance in your skill development. A common error is thinking of Kata as the recipe of the end game, so we're using the phrase "Starter Kata" to make it more clear. The approach is that people trying to change behaviors and learn new skills benefit from a simpler starting point.

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STARTER KATA
for Coaching
Start at the Beginning
By Mike Rother, Mark Rosenthal, and Jeff Liker
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WHAT ARE STARTER KATA?
Begin by practicing Starter Kata.
Then, as you gain some skill and
understanding, you build upon
them to suit your situation and
develop your own way.
The Starter Kata are not the
end game—they put you
on the road to new skills.
Illustration from the Toyota Kata Practice Guide
Starter Kata are small, predefined practice routines,
or drills, of fundamentals. They help you get started
in adopting a new way of acting and thinking.
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The Four-Step
Improvement Kata
Pattern
THE IMPROVEMENT KATA HELPS US
DEVELOP SCIENTIFIC-THINKING SKILLS
Starter Kata
are the
Practice Routines
Illustration from the Toyota Kata Practice Guide
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A STARTER KATA FOR
IMPROVEMENT KATA COACHES
- The Five Coaching Kata Questions -
• The five questions are the main headings
for daily coaching cycles.
• The five questions reinforce the pattern
of the Improvement Kata.
• The questions, and any clarifying
questions asked between them, are also
prompts to help make the learner’s current
thinking visible, so the coach can give
feedback tailored to each learner. The
main-heading questions are scripted, but
additional questions and feedback are not.
However, it takes practice to attain IK coaching skill
Illustration from the Toyota Kata Practice Guide
Card is a free download on the Toyota Kata Website
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1. The Permanent Beginner
Doesn’t want to practice Starter Kata,
or wants to change them right away.
2. The Implementer
Wants to permanently stick with the
structured routine of the Starter Kata,
rather than seeing them as an initial step
in the process of developing new skills.
TWO COMMON ERRORS
WITH STARTER KATA
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Actual Skill Level
Perceived Skill Level
TYPICAL PATTERN OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Time Spent Practicing
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Actual Skill Level
Perceived Skill Level
TYPICAL PATTERN OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Time Spent Practicing
Caution
The less skill we
have, the more
we tend to
overestimate
our ability
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Stage 3: DETACH
Now you break away from the Starter Kata,
while sticking to the underlying principles,
because you have internalized them. You use
the knowledge you’ve acquired to create your
own approaches and develop your own style.
Stage 2: FLUENCY
In this stage the pattern of the Starter Kata
starts getting faster, smoother, and easier.
You also come to understand the purpose
behind the Starter Kata’s pattern and add your
own maneuvers.
Stage 1: FOLLOW
Practice seems awkward and forced at this
point, but don’t deviate from the Starter Kata!
The uncomfortable feeling is actually what
you should be feeling at this stage. It’s a sign
that you are building new neural pathways.
TYPICAL STAGES OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Illustrations from the
Toyota Kata Practice Guide
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Theoretical landmarks, but good to realize it’s a progression

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CK Stage 3--Detach
Listening to the learner and
figuring out where to go next
CK Stage 2--Fluency
Adding clarifying questions, etc.
CK Stage 1--Follow
Asking the five Coaching Kata questions
8-Minute Video
COACHING KATA STAGES
OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT
In the following video, notice how Coaching Kata (CK) skill progresses
the same as practicing any new routine. Once you internalize the CK
fundamentals—getting them out of the way by making them more
habitual and automatic—you become more able to sense the learner's
current thinking and tailor your feedback accordingly.
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Illustration from the
Toyota Kata Practice Guide

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NOW PRACTICING—RESPONDING TO EACH LEARNER
When the questions and their purpose are deeply ingrained,
the coach can go off rigid format while maintaining the
underlying pattern and can really coach—listening, assessing,
and guiding each learner in their skill development.
INTERMEDIATE—THINKING ABOUT CONNECTIONS
The coach is now actively thinking and assessing the
scientific-logic flow of answers. Clarifying questions lead to
feedback that helps keep the learner practicing on-pattern.
BEGINNER—ASKING THE 5 COACHING KATA QUESTIONS
It may feel redundant, but it begins to establish a pattern,
needed for habit formation, and prevents bad habits like
asking questions that throw the learner off pattern.
THE TRAJECTORY OF
MARK’S COACHING EXPERIENCE
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WHY DO WE HAVE KATA?
A manager thinking about
how their people work,
and what they are learning
Mastering the Starter Kata is not the goal
The goal is to develop scientific thinking
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PURPOSE OF TOYOTA KATA
Managers
Create the creators
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LARGE OR SMALL GOALS
IT DOESN’T MATTER
It’s the same basic pattern of working—a Meta Skill!
• A goal you have not yet
reached
• Obstacles to that goal
• Solutions that don’t yet
exist (or you would have
already implemented them)
• A need to test your ideas
No matter what sort of
problem solving you’re doing,
you’ll have these conditions:
Illustration from the Toyota Kata Practice Guide
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