oobeya group

oobeya group helps organizations understand and put to practice advanced management and development techniques ranging from TQM to Agile to Lean. We are passionate about improvement and have experienced the range of approaches to organizational transition. These include up front methods such as ISO and CMM and adaptive methods that we now call Agile.

Transcending either of these approaches and the spectrum in between is the necessity to view organizations, teams, individuals, markets, projects and processes as ongoing flows, not static things or events. Maintaining this perspective and focusing on learning and adapting all the time will compensate for the weaknesses of either a pure predictive or pure adaptive approach.  Our services have been developed to assist organizations make the difficult transition to successful use of these principles and practices.

oobeya group consists of founder Lowell Lindstrom plus a network of talented specialists.  We combine to provide you the most efficient service team.

That new approach is captured in one word: oobeya (ooh-bay-yuh). It's Japanese for "big, open office." The business translation? To change the way that you create a product, change when, how, and with whom you share information. For Toyota, oobeya means bringing together people from all parts of the company -- whether they're from design, engineering, manufacturing, logistics, or sales."
In a Word, Toyota Drives for Innovation, Fast Company,  Issue 61. August 2002, page 36, by Fara Warner

"Toyota has found that the obeya[sic] team system enables fast and accurate decision-making, improves communication, maintains alignment, speeds information gathering, and creates an important sense of team integration."
Liker, Jefferey, The Toyota Way, McGraw Hill, 2004