What do Ford, Intel, Toyota and Maytag company have in common?! These large companies have announced publicly that they use the Kaizen concept that have focused on eliminating waste in working process and focus on continual improvement. I was first introduced to it by a client that wanted something that reminded her of this concept in her office space. She wanted this as Kaizen in working environment stands for uninterrupted, ongoing incremental change. Not knowing what this was, out of pure curiosity I looked into it. So here is a little history lesson and key points of this concept and maybe it can help you in your everyday working environment.
Kaizen direct translation from Japanese is "good change", often translated in the west as ongoing, continuous improvement and becoming better. The history of Kaizen begins right after WWII and its stated that Japan's competitive success in the world market place is the result of implementing the Kaizen concept in their corporations. Toyota was one of the first large companies that employed a special activity called "Quality Circles" in its production process that was part of the Kaizen method. This concept used looks for uninterrupted, ongoing incremental change. These continual small improvements (Kaizen) add up to major benefits. They result, for example, in: faster delivery, lower costs, and greater customer satisfaction.
Another side of Kaizen is Kaikaku that is also know as breakthrough Kaizen and is the revolutionary, focused on radical improvements. Even if you are not a large corporation there are many great principles that you can implement to be more productive and to produce greater results and I especially loved the 10 Kaikaku commandments.
Have you used any of these commandments and how?
How can you improve your productivity today?
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