What is kaizen? This is the first question that surfaced in your mind when you heard the word, right? The process of understanding may start by the etymological definition. Kai in Japanese means continuous and zen means improvement or wisdom. When we combine the two the philosophy of Kaizen management is arrived at which means continuous improvement. You probably want to know by now how the word Kaizen came into existence and why this word. It was founded after World War II when i American experts were brought in to help rebuild Japanese industries after the widespread destruction caused by the nuclear bomb. The Economic and Scientific (ESS) group was entrusted with the responsibility of improving the management skills of the Japanese group. They filmed the training and titled it “Improvement in four steps” (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai). That is how the philosophy got its name. Was this as boring as some of your history classes? Hope not!!

 

By now you are wondering what role has kaizen got to play in your life? Well it is a daily activity and its significance in your life extends beyond productivity improvement. It is a path which if you follow to the minutest detail will alternate your overly hard work and educates you to perform experiments using scientific methods. In its entirety the process suggests a humanized approach to workers and increase in productivity. You might be thinking that since I am not a CEO or the MD of a company why this should bother me. After all I am good at what I do and I do not need some philosophy to teach me how to do my job. However, the beauty of kaizen lies in the fact that irrespective of your level you may participate in it. Everyone from the CEO down may take part in it and even if you are an external stakeholder you might just feel its necessity. The format is very flexible and depending on your needs you may go for an individual, suggestive system, small group or large group system. Now, slowly but steadily you are gaining interest in this philosophy, are you not? You surely are wondering if these methods are as useful as it seems, then why is it not implemented everywhere. You are not wrong to think that. So, lets move on to one such multi national company.  

 

Firstly, you need to know the steps in the cycle before moving further. You start by standardizing a procedure then you measure the standardized operation, gauge the required information, innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity, standardize the new improved operation and finally continue cycle. At Toyota the improvement is generally local within a small group in their own working environment and productivity. The principles have been incorporated into personal development processes also. By now you are convinced that continuous improvement is a huge step in the right direction in this ever evolving world. This is a fact, not an understatement!