TPS isn't what you think - it's who thinks

Let's get this straight: TPS isn't just Toyota Production System wrapped in the mystical glow of Japanese efficiency.

- REY ELBO

TPS stands for something deeper -- Thinking People Strategy. It's more human. More strategic. Because no matter how many kaizen buzzwords you drop, nothing moves unless people think first.

Machines don't innovate. Charts don't empathize. Even ChatGPT can't lead your morning meetings. At least not yet. So, forget the factory floor for a moment. It isn't about how fast you can tighten a bolt — it's about how fast you can spark and tickle one's brain.

I coined the term "Thinking People Strategy" nearly 10 years ago, which I formalized in a full-length article published in The Manila Times on Sept. 5, 2023. Today, for convenience, let's refer to it as TPS 2.0 to primarily emphasize the benefits of "reverentially" requiring all workers to think proactively in any work and industry.

TPS 2.0 isn't a shiny app, a feel-good poster in the breakroom, or an off-site retreat driven by awkward icebreakers. It's a mindset shift. It's a radical idea destroying the quirks of command-and-control managers: People must be empowered to think. Of course, it's not a new idea.

From production to people

While TPS is the birth certificate of Toyota, its real legacy is not just the just-in-time, 5S good housekeeping, or anything that falls under kaizen and lean. It's the culture behind it — the belief that every individual, from the shop floor to the executive suite, is a brilliant problem solver.