Why Every Organization Should Embrace Kaizen Principles

Imagine a workplace where every small action is designed to improve efficiency, where each person contributes to a collective pursuit of excellence, and where innovation thrives from the ground up, day by day. That’s the promise of Kaizen. It's a philosophy rooted in continuous improvement, and you're about to learn why it can be transformative for your organization.

What is Kaizen?

Kaizen is a Japanese term that combines two characters: kai (change) and zen (good or better). The term translates to “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.”  As a business philosophy, Kaizen promotes continuous improvement through small, gradual changes instead of large-scale initiatives. Collectively, these small changes gradually lead to significant improvements in products, processes, and performance over time. 

Kaizen encourages all stakeholders in the organization to participate by identifying challenges and implementing small improvements in their daily work. Ideally, Kaizen occurs everywhere in the organization, involves everyone, and happens every day.  

History of Kaizen

Kaizen as a business philosophy originated in Japan around the late 1940s. Reeling from the impact of the Second World War, Japanese manufacturing companies developed Kaizen principles during the reconstruction period to rebuild and improve their industries. 

Toyota Motor Corporation pioneered the movement while developing the Toyota Production System (TPS). Initially focused on eliminating waste and optimizing the manufacturing process, Kaizen has since spread worldwide across other sectors. Today, Kaizen principles are applied in various industries, including healthcare, finance, and software development.

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Kaizen promotes continuous improvement through small, gradual changes instead of large-scale initiatives. Collectively, these small changes gradually lead to significant improvements in products, processes, and performance.

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Key principles of Kaizen

1. Know your customer. Value is assessed from the customers’ perspective. Any improvements should ultimately help deliver better value to your customers. That means understanding their needs, interests, and expectations is crucial. 
2. Let it flow. The goal is to streamline processes by eliminating waste. Zero waste entails identifying and promptly addressing bottlenecks to ensure seamless progression from one stage of a workflow to another. 
3. Go to Gemba (The Real Place). Identify and prioritize specific areas of improvement. Go there, get your hands dirty, and make a difference. 
4. Empower people. Encourage staff involvement at all levels and functions. In Kaizen, employees responsible for completing daily tasks are best positioned to identify areas of improvement and recommend appropriate actions. Empower your people by setting shared goals and providing systems and tools that will help them make things better.   
5. Be transparent. Communication should be open. Processes — especially decision-making — should be transparent. Performance and improvements should be measurable.   

Methods and techniques

Kaizen uses many tools, including techniques such as 5S and kanban, which are also used by other business frameworks, such as agile development and Lean thinking.

However, Kaizen is most associated with the Seven Whys technique, the 7W checklist, and the 7M checklist.

The Seven Whys technique helps analysts and decision-makers explore cause-and-effect relationships that underlie a specific problem. To use it, you just need to ask “Why” seven times to identify the root cause of an issue. This iterative questioning process helps uncover hidden insights about a problem.  

Example application (Problem: low customer satisfaction score):

1. Why is our customer satisfaction score low? Because there are many customer complaints. 
2. Why are there many customer complaints? Because they are kept on hold for too long.
3. Why are they kept on hold for too long? Because there are not enough agents.
4. Why aren’t there enough agents? Because many agents decide to leave.
5. Why do many agents leave? Because the job is stressful and underpaid.
6. Why is the job stressful and underpaid? Because our compensation and wellness program is not working well.
7. Why is our program not working well? Because HR has not updated it in five years.

The 7W checklist is an analytical tool used for many purposes such as ensuring effective communication, analyzing processes, and establishing project specifications. It involves answering seven key questions:

1. What (Example: What needs to be done?) 
2. Why (Example: Why is this action necessary?)
3. How (Example: How should the action be executed?)
4. Where (Example: Where should the action occur?)
5. When (Example: When should the action occur?)
6. Who (Example: Who owns the different components of the action?)
7. Which (Example: Which resources are needed to carry out the action?)

The 7M checklist is a quality management framework and a problem-solving tool used in process improvement. A systematic approach for identifying and analyzing potential causes of issues, 7Ms stand for:

1. Man: People involved in the process (skills, training, motivation)
2. Machine: Equipment and technologies used in the process
3. Material: Raw materials or components used
4. Method: Procedures and techniques used to facilitate the process
5. Measurement: Process data how it is collected and analyzed
6. Milieu: Environment in which the process takes place
7. Money/Management: Resources required to facilitate and manage the process

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Benefits of the Kaizen approach

Why should organizations implement Kaizen principles? Because they spark change without the chaos. Allow me to explain. 

1. Empowerment of employees

In most workplaces, innovation is seen as the job of a select few. The research department, the C-suite, or the consultants brought in to shake things up. But what if everyone in the organization, from the front-line worker to the manager, could contribute to making things better?

Kaizen flips the top-down innovation model on its head. It empowers every employee to become an innovator, to look at their daily tasks and ask, "How can I do this just a little bit better tomorrow?" It creates an environment where every voice counts, where no improvement is too small to matter. This sense of ownership is incredibly motivating. When people feel their contributions matter, engagement and morale skyrocket.

2. Reduction of waste and inefficiency

In today’s fast-paced business environment, waste is a silent killer. Unnecessary processes, waiting times, or even overproduction all chip away at a company’s bottom line. But Kaizen encourages teams to examine every step of their workflows. It trains people to identify inefficiencies and eliminate them.

Think about the production line worker who notices that a machine could be positioned differently to save five seconds of work per task. Or the office administrator who suggests a new digital tool that automates a repetitive manual process. These may seem like small victories in isolation, but when they accumulate, they lead to massive gains in productivity.

3. Continuous improvement means staying competitive

The business world is in a constant state of evolution. Markets shift, consumer behaviors change, and technologies advance at lightning speed. Organizations that fail to adapt quickly get left behind. Kaizen ensures that companies are always improving, always adapting to new realities.

Take Toyota, for example. They’re one of the best-known companies practicing Kaizen. Instead of waiting for issues to arise and then reacting, they focus on constantly refining their operations. That mindset has helped them remain a global leader in automotive manufacturing for decades.

4. Long-term sustainability and growth

Perhaps most compelling of all, Kaizen drives sustainable growth. Large-scale changes often come with enormous risk and cost. But by adopting a mindset of continuous, incremental improvement, businesses can grow steadily without the volatility of disruptive change. It’s like building a house brick by brick instead of tearing it down and rebuilding every few years.

This Kaizen-inspired approach can pair well with lean thinking and even Six Sigma, other powerful strategies that promote efficiency and quality. To deepen your understanding of these methods, check out our GoSkills courses on lean methodology and Six Sigma principles for even more insights into creating a culture of improvement.

What next?

You've already taken the first step to making a difference within your organization by learning more about Kaizen. The next step is to make it a habit by living out its simple, practical tenets in your workflow. Then, take the shortcut to mastery that most professionals and organizations now prefer: Lean Six Sigma. 

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