Many executives see their strategic plans become a "vision on a wall," leading to "isolated, episodic initiatives" rather than sustained results. In this session, Mark Reich shares a proven management system designed to close the gap between strategy and execution.

Drawing on his unique background—from learning problem-solving on the ground at Toyota to serving as an executive in Corporate Strategy for Toyota North America—Mark provides a blueprint for building a truly aligned organization.

Leaders will discover how hoshin kanri moves beyond traditional, top-down planning to create a dynamic system of alignment, problem-solving, and leader development.

Mark will showcase stunning, real-world results from this approach, including how GE Appliances doubled its business and became #1 in the U.S. , and how Grand Rapids Chair grew net income by 193% in four years.

Why do so many strategic initiatives fail to gain traction? The problem often lies in a lack of horizontal and vertical alignment and a clear process to execute the vision.

This session demystifies hoshin kanri, presenting it as a logical, PDCA-based management system that empowers leaders to guide their organization with purpose. Mark Reich provides an executive-level walkthrough of the core components that drive success.

Drawing on his unique background—from learning problem-solving on the ground at Toyota to serving as an executive in Corporate Strategy for Toyota North America—Mark brings a rare blend of practical and enterprise-level perspective.

Executives will learn how to lead this transformation by:

• Establishing a rigorous process of reflection and input to build a strategy that addresses the "vital few" business challenges.
•  Driving vertical alignment through "catchball"—a structured dialogue that engages teams, creates ownership, and develops capability.
• Implementing a visual management system (obeya) to create strategic oversight, facilitate coaching, and ensure plans stay on track.
• Building a culture where everyone, at all levels, is engaged in solving problems to achieve shared objectives.

Traditional strategy often focuses on executive accountability, cascading targets through delegation. In contrast, hoshin kanri is a powerful engine for leadership development. Mark Reich shares insights from his own career at Toyota, where every team member was assigned a mentor and a problem to solve on day one, creating a culture of continuous learning.

Drawing on this foundation—as well as his later role as an executive in Corporate Strategy for Toyota North America—he demonstrates how the hoshin process replicates this developmental DNA at a strategic level.
This presentation shows leaders how to use their strategy deployment process to intentionally grow talent.

Executives will learn how hoshin kanri creates opportunities for emerging leaders to take responsibility for cross-functional objectives, learn to lead through influence, understand the gemba (the real place of work), and build critical problem-solving skills using A3 thinking. This is the key to building a resilient organization with a deep bench of capable, innovative leaders.

Episodic, project-based improvements rarely create lasting competitive advantage. Sustainable success requires a management system that achieves both innovative leaps and gradual, sustained impact. Mark Reich explains how to build this system by integrating the breakthrough focus of hoshin kanri with the stability of a robust daily management system.

Drawing on his unique background—from problem-solving on the ground at Toyota to serving as an executive in Corporate Strategy for Toyota North America—Mark brings both a practical and enterprise-level perspective to strategy deployment.

Leaders will see a clear, visual model for how these systems work together: hoshin kanri drives major, strategic leaps in performance, while daily management provides the foundation of continuous improvement that sustains those gains and prevents backsliding.

Mark will explain how this integrated approach, fueled by a common A3 problem-solving methodology, creates an agile and resilient enterprise capable of navigating market shifts and consistently delivering superior results.