Definition
First set three-to-five-year business goals, then work backward from the goals and gaps to determine which tools to deploy; contrasted with the push-style practice of promoting tools according to management preferences or trends. From a publicly published work, not textbook measurement definition.
In detail
The typical symptom of push-based introduction is launching a dozen courses at once, with every department learning tools, yet not a single business metric improves as a result. Pull-based deployment treats tools as a means to close a specific gap: gaps come from diagnosis and Policy Deployment, and tools are introduced as gaps emerge. This does not contradict the "foundational tools that must be mastered in the first year"—foundational tools are the baseline, while other tools are pulled in based on gaps.
Example in practice
Diagnosis showed on-time delivery at only 85%, with changeover time accounting for 40% of downtime. Rather than rolling out a full training program, the company first ran two Kaizen weeks on quick changeover and Standard Work at the bottleneck process, lifting delivery to 93%; tools such as value analysis were deferred until the business showed a corresponding gap.