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KAIZEN METHOD FOR CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVEMENT

‘Kaizen’ is the Japanese word for “good change” (Kai = change, Zen = good), and describes the
continuous improvement of all corporate functions, at all levels of the hierarchy.

Kaizen is a competitive strategy in which all employees work together to create a strong
culture of constant improvement.

The core philosophy behind Kaizen is simple: you can always make or do things better, even if
they seem to work well in a particular moment. Furthermore, all problems should be seen as
opportunities to improve things.

In Kaizen, it doesn’t matter whether the change happens at once or is a constant, whether the
change is big or small, as long as it is a change for the better.

The origins of Kaizen were in lean manufacturing and the Toyota Way set of principles. Today,
Kaizen is utilized worldwide as an important competitive strategy pillar in many successful
companies.

Ultimately, if you do not improve and grow (as an individual and an organization as a whole), you
will eventually fall behind.

The main advantages of a correctly implemented Kaizen are most often:

 A better workplace and a safer working environment

 Better commitment and employee retention
 Improved problem-solving skills and quality of teamwork
 Increased competitiveness and customer satisfaction
 Reduced waste and overly hard work
 Increased productivity and overall company success
Every leader or HR manager should be familiar with Kaizen. So, let’s take a closer look at what
the Kaizen philosophy and method are and how you can make Kaizen an important part of your
company’s culture, employee’s mindset, and work agenda.

The basics of the Kaizen philosophy – continuous improvement without any excuses
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Kaizen is both a philosophy and a method. As a philosophy, it encourages all employees to

constantly grow personally and professionally, to look for possible improvements and then to
initiate positive change in an organization.

Also, Kaizen as a method provides a set of tools and recommendations for creating a concrete
action plan for implementing specific improvements. It’s a practical guide how to implement
change in an organization.

The Kaizen philosophy is based on 10 principles:

1. Discard conventional fixed ideas.

2. Think about how to do it, not why it cannot be done, make things happen.
3. Do not make excuses or try to justify the past, start by questioning current and best
practices.
4. If something is wrong or you have made a mistake, correct it immediately.
5. Do not seek perfection, do it right away even if it’s 50% of the target.
6. Creativity before capital. Do not spend money on Kaizen, use your wisdom.
7. You develop wisdom when faced with hardship.
8. Ask “why” five times to seek the root cause (the ‘5-whys method’).
9. Seek the wisdom of many people rather than the knowledge of one.
10. Kaizen is endless, so never stop improving.
Two additional principles that are frequently mentioned in Kaizen are:

 11. Empower everyone on your team to be a part of the problem-solving process.

 12. Choose a simple solution, not the perfect one.

When a company follows the Kaizen philosophy, a person can achieve the “Zenkai” title (an
ancient master famous for not wasting even a drop of water). The title goes to a person who
makes a large contribution for the successful implementation and execution of Kaizen in the
company.

The basics of the Kaizen method – point Kaizen, the Kaizen system, and Kaizen events
There are two types of improvement in the Kaizen method. The point Kaizen is implemented
when something in a company is found to be broken or not working well, and then immediate
action is taken to correct the situation.
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Point Kaizen most often happens quickly, without any planning. But many such small
improvements accumulate over time and contribute to great overall revitalization of an
organization.

Alternatively, the Kaizen system is a strategic planning method with the aim of directly
addressing more complex and systemic problems and improving them in a short period of time.

Complex and systemic challenges most often must be addressed in a dedicated, focused, and
persistent manner. The combination of both approaches to improvement is what leads to a
superior competitive organization; an organization that gets better and better with time.

Thirdly, Kaizen events are projects that can lead to major improvements in a short amount of
time, usually in a 2–10-day period. Such improvement projects must have clear objectives,
dedicated people, and enough other resources.

Part of Kaizen events are also meetings, where (point or system) Kaizen projects are discussed,
planned, and implemented.

Kaizen is usually carried out by an individual in an organization, a group of people, or even an

improvement suggestion system in today’s world of AI. When carrying out Kaizen events, it’s
important to use the following toolset:

 Gemba Kaizen – go to the real source, don’t just try to solve problems behind a desk
 5 Whys – always find the root cause
 The PDCA cycle of improvement – use a systematic method to measure improvements
 5S program – you get most out of Kaizen when everything is standardized

Gemba Kaizen’ or ‘Genchi Genbutsu’

‘Gemba’ in Japanese means “the real place” (a place where value is created) or similarly ‘Genchi
Genbutsu’ means go to the real source, out of your office or conference room.

The main idea is that the problem is best visible and understandable when you go directly to the
place where operations are performed and where the problem occurs (e.g. the factory floor in
manufacturing). The “real place” is usually also where the best ideas on how to solve the
problem can be found.

It’s one of the most difficult principles of Kaizen, because it’s much easier to try and solve a
problem in an office or conference room. However, discussing the problem and possible
solutions only theoretically, and rarely leads to the optimal solution. You can even make the
situation worse.
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So, remember: When the problem occurs, the people responsible for the solution or
improvement, must go to the source, out of their office.

They must understand the full implications of a problem, investigate where the root cause lies;
gather data, ideas, and opinions from various sources; and only then begin the decision-making
process.

5 Whys, the PDCA cycle, and 5S program in Kaizen

When Kaizen is being implemented in practice, it’s usually combined with three lean production
tools that follow the agenda of getting to the root cause of the problem, measuring the impact
of change implemented in a data-driven way, and then standardizing the new way of doing
things.

The first technique is called the ‘5 Whys Analysis,’ which aims to identify the root cause of the
problem. If you really want to improve, you must find the real cause of the problem.

The basic idea is quite simple, you repeat the question “why?” usually at least five times, until
you find the root cause.

The second technique is called the ‘PDCA cycle.’ The PDCA cycle is a system for constant
improvement, where P stands for Plan, D for Do, C for Check, and A for Acknowledge and Act.
The PDCA cycle is a never-ending process of improvement that should be followed in Kaizen.

 Plan is about finding problems and preparing a plan

 Do is about implementing and testing different solutions
 Check is about analysis, reflection, and introspection
 Act is about final implementation and standardization
To make it more practical, the PDCA cycle should look something like this:

 P: Encourage all employees to get involved and help identify problems in an organization.
Prioritize the problems and brainstorm potential solutions then for the most important
problem (the one that presents the greatest opportunity). Encourage everyone to contribute
creative ideas and then select a few winning solutions.
 D: Create pilot programs, test runs, or other types of experiments to test the selected
solution or several of them. The solution must be implemented in practice, in a controlled
environment, so that the actual impact can be measured.
 C: Measure the success of the solution(s) based on the agreed set of metrics and prepare
a detailed analysis of what works best.
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 A: When the best solution has met all expectations, ensure that it is fully implemented
and standardized. Start again with the “P phase,” finding new problems and further
improvements.
The third technique used in Kaizen is called the ‘5S Program.’ The five S’s stand
for seiri (tidiness), seiton (orderliness), seiso (cleanliness), seiketsu (standardization),
and shitsuke (discipline – keep the effort going).

In English, the words could also be sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. It’s the
most visible part of kaizen where in the end everything should shine, be in place, and get done in
a standardized manner.

Kaizen is also an integral part of Just In Time production (JIT) and Total Quality Management
(TQM).

The growth mindset and the learning organization

In western management practice, a concept similar to Kaizen is the so-called ‘learning
organization.’ It’s a way for an organization to remain competitive in the business environment
by constantly transforming itself. The five main characteristics of a learning company are:

 shared vision,
 personal mastery,
 team learning,
 systematic thinking, and
 mental models (the right mindset).
In recent years, the right way of thinking, otherwise known as the ‘growth mindset,’ had been
popularized – which is a basic requirement for cultivating the Kaizen culture.

Stanford professor Dr. Carol Dweck has found that the biggest difference between successful
and unsuccessful people lies in their mindset. You can either have a fixed or a growth mindset.

If you have a fixed mindset, you believe that your character and potential are unchangeable,
and have been “written in stone” since birth. You assume that they cannot be modified or
improved in a meaningful way.

Thus, any success in that kind of mindset is the result of inherited talent, the given resources,
and the environment you were born in. Instead of thinking of how to improve yourself, you hope
that other people will be less competent than you.
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Let’s look at a practical example. Intelligence. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe that
intelligence is a static thing. This usually leads to avoiding challenges, seeing efforts as fruitless,
ignoring useful feedback, feeling threatened by others’ success, and giving up easily when
challenges arise.

Furthermore, it leads to a desire to only look smarter, but not really improve yourself. The final
result of the fixed mindset is that people simply don’t develop their intellectual competences
(crystallized intelligence) over time.

The second option is having a growth mindset. It means that you believe in personal evolution
and that you can improve your character by working on yourself.

If you have a growth mindset, you see yourself as being at a specific starting point with the
option to constantly experiment, test new ideas, and improve yourself – your skill, beliefs, and
competences.

In the growth mindset, intelligence is not a static thing, but rather one that can be developed.
Instead of only trying to look smart, it leads you towards developing intelligence by constantly
learning, thus improving yourself overall.

Another positive result is also the mindset of embracing challenges, a greater persistence,
seeing effort as the path to mastery, learning from criticism, and being inspired by others’
success. You see everything as a skill, and every skill can be practiced and improved.

It’s obvious that the fixed mindset leads to hiding your flaws, doing only things that you are
naturally good at, feeling defined by failures, being unwilling to improve your relationships, not
testing new things and experimenting, and feeling bad if everything doesn’t go as planned –
even if you have learned something new.

Conversely, with a growth mindset, flaws and problems are only opportunities to
improve. Unknown and new things bring learning opportunities, mastery leads to passion and
purpose, and every failure is only a temporary setback.

The growth mindset therefore leads to greater personal success, improvement of self-esteem
and self-confidence, better relationships, constant learning, avoiding perfectionism, and
becoming the best version of yourself.

It’s obvious that the more people have the growth mindset in an organization, it’s easier to
implement the Kaizen culture and method.

Start implementing the Kaizen philosophy and method today

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Kaizen is a very flexible system, so you can find many different adaptations and success stories
from the best companies in the world. Fortunately, Kaizen is not a rigid system, but very
adaptable to an organization’s goals, work style, and culture. Here are a few ideas on how to
start implementing Kaizen:

 Organize a Kaizen event with your employees and brainstorm as many ideas as possible
on how to improve your organization.
 Select the most obvious problem in your organization and try to solve it with using the
PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
 Start by analyzing where your organization produces the most waste, either in
materials, in the production process, or in the daily use of employees’ time
 Introduce the Zenkai quarterly title for a person who makes the greatest contribution
to the improvement of your organization.
 Start a coaching program in your organization, so that employees can develop the
growth mentality more quickly and start helping to shape the Kaizen culture.