Yokoten: Learning Across Airline Operations

In our previous posts of The Lean Airlien Blog, we explored Hoshin Kanri, a strategic framework for aligning organizational vision with actionable goals, and Catchball, the collaborative feedback loop that refines objectives across all levels. Today, we’ll focus on Yokoten—the practice of sharing best practices horizontally across teams and units.

What is Yokoten?

Yokoten is a Japanese Lean term that can be translated as “horizontal deployment”. It’s about spreading both successful solutions and lessons from mistakes from one team or project to other areas of the organization—but in a targeted, relevant way.

The concept comes from Japanese manufacturing, and it was implemented and documented within the Toyota Production System (TPS). There, it was used to share improvements and lessons learned across teams and plants, accelerating organizational learning.

In Maintenance, a team might share a faster way to complete a routine check or a minor error they discovered, so others can avoid it. In Safety, lessons from an incident or a small procedural mistake by cabin crew can be shared with other teams to prevent the same problem. By spreading both improvements and errors, Yokoten helps airlines learn faster, reduce risks, and improve operations.

The purpose is simple: amplify success, prevent the same mistakes by different individuals or in different areas, and accelerate continuous improvement across the airline.

Linking Yokoten to Learning From All Operations

Yokoten aligns perfectly with the concept of Learning From All Operations. Traditionally, organizations focused mainly on learning from mistakes or hazardous events. Learning From All Operations broadens this perspective, emphasizing the value of insights from routine operations and successes. By collecting and sharing lessons from all areas of operations, airlines can turn everyday activities into opportunities for improvement, rather than waiting for errors to happen.

Why Yokoten Matters in Aviation

Airlines operate in a complex, safety-critical environment. Best practices discovered in one department or location can save time, reduce errors, and improve passenger experience when shared organization-wide. Benefits include:

• Faster Problem-Solving: Teams don’t reinvent solutions that already exist.

• Consistency in Operations: Ensures standardized quality across crews, locations, and fleets.

• Enhanced Collaboration: Breaks down silos between departments, fostering cross-functional teamwork.

• Culture of Continuous Improvement: Encourages everyone to share successes and lessons learned, making learning part of daily operations.

Implementing Yokoten

Here’s how you can apply Yokoten effectively:

1. Identify Best Practices: Recognize improvements, even small ones, that deliver measurable results.

2. Document and Analyze: Capture what works and what doesn't, why it works or why it doesn't work, and the conditions in which it applies.

3. Share Horizontally: Use workshops, newsletters, intranet platforms, or short training sessions to communicate improvements across individuals and teams.

4. Encourage Adaptation: Each hub or team adjusts the practice to its context, rather than copying blindly.

5. Monitor and Learn: Track adoption and impact, refine processes, and continue sharing successes.

Conclusion

Incorporating Yokoten into your airline’s culture can lead to a more knowledgeable, innovative, and connected organization. By embracing the sharing of best practices and lessons learned, the collective knowledge of your workforce becomes far greater than the sum of its parts.

So, why not seize the opportunity to cultivate Yokoten within your airline and unlock the full potential of your teams?