The Hat Game: Experience the Power of Organizational Dynamics

Fun & sometimes downright silly, The Hats Game is above all a very useful exercise on the effects of preconceptions and biases. The game demonstrates the power of these organizational dynamics to energize or squelch lean efforts by illustrating the most important tenet of the Toyota Production System, Respect For People.

The Hat Game points out the danger of relying on preconceptions, stereotypes or prior biases when dealing with co-workers. When identifying and solving problems, lean philosophy suggests it’s best to be inclusive and draw as many ideas from as many sources as possible in order to arrive at the best possible solution. If we cannot overcome internal biases, then we run the risk of cutting off a valuable source of ideas and sub-optimizing our continuous improvement efforts.

Use this exercise over and over again - make it a part of your new employee orientation and part of ongoing Continuous Improvement training.

Includes 12 labeled stickers and 8 blank stickers (so you can make your own labels if you like), 8 hats, written instructions and a 17-minute DVD. Divided into 8 chapters, the DVD is a valuable Lean Training tool as a complement to the exercise or as a stand-alone training DVD!