The Flow System (TFS) is a new framework that I developed with industry partners (Nigel Thurlow, formerly the Chief of Agile at Toyota Connected, and Brian ‘Ponch’ Rivera, USNR) to create value to the customer in complex environments. The Flow System builds upon the foundations provided by the Toyota Production System and the culture that is The Toyota Way. To achieve flow in complexity, providing value to the customer in a disruptive economy, organizations need to understand and be able to practice three fundamental constructs; complexity thinking, distributed leadership, and team science.
In many cases organizations focus their attention on one or two of these practices, assuming that everything else will fall into place. For example, many team-based structures and Agile initiatives (e.g., scrum) often fail because the leadership structure is not changed to factor in the new team-based structure. Leadership operates under their existing, often command-and-control, model expecting it to work just as effectively with teams as it does with leading individuals. Unfortunately, this is not the case, leading to many failed attempts at implementing team-based and Agile systems.
What must be realized is that the three components presented in the The Flow System must work hand-in-hand, they must be interconnected, in order to provide flow. We call this interconnectivity among the three components the triple helix of flow, as each component of complexity thinking, distributed leadership, and team science is required to achieve flow. We call this triple helix the DNA of organizations for operating in complexity.
The Flow System guidebook is available as a free online guide at https://flowguides.org/index.php It is licensed under Creative Commons:
©2019 Professor John Turner, Nigel Thurlow, Brian Rivera. The Flow System™ is Offered for license under the Attribution license of Creative Commons, accessible at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode and also described in summary form at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ By utilizing this Site and any information presented you acknowledge and agree that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms of the Attribution license of Creative Commons. The Flow System™, The DNA of Organizations™, and The Triple Helix of Flow™ are all trademarks of the copyright holders.
A recent feature article summarizing the The Flow System (formerly termed the Toyota Flow System) can be found at Planet Lean: The Lean Global Network Journal at the following link:
https://planet-lean.com/introducing-the-toyota-flow-system/
This conceptual model is a work in progress that combines academia with practice, crossing the theory-to-practice divide. There is much more to come in the development and testing of the Toyota Flow System. This page will keep you updated on the progress of the The Flow System.