What Is The Kaizen Method? - It Teaches Us How To Improve Continuously

Last updated by Katie M.

I keep asking myself how I can improve as a person. Firstly for myself, but also for others. However, there’s one area in which I feel less comfortable progressing: work. How can you continuously improve in your career? Some time ago I discovered the “Kaizen” mindset, a Japanese method that allows you to achieve great things through small everyday changes. It originated in Japanese companies and can help us achieve our goals. Let’s see how to apply it in our professional lives!

What Is The Kaizen Method? - It Teaches Us How To Improve Continuously
Contents: 

What are the principles of Kaizen?

“Kaizen” is a Japanese word combining two ideas

  • 🕰️ Kai - change
  • 🌿 Zen - the best

It’s a concept born in Japan in the 1950s to increase productivity after the Second World War. Toyota developed this method thanks to Taaichi Ohno as part of the management that is part of a continuous improvement approach. We look for new ways of doing better, we eliminate everything that isn’t necessary to become more productive 💪! However, it shouldn’t be done abruptly and quickly.

Slowly but surely

You need to implement small regular improvements progressively so as not to get put off. This is the heart of the method that interests us! It’s a way of making gentle progress without any sudden big changes. You have to focus every day on eliminating the problems you encounter in order to optimize the way you work.

Going too fast, as in all fields, is often discouraging 🙍‍♀️. Indeed, it’s frequently the problem with New Year’s resolutions. 80% of people who make them abandon them after just a month and a half! This proves that you need to initiate change gradually in order to succeed. To do this, you have to break everything down into small steps to achieve your goal 😎.

How to apply the Kaizen method?

Masaaki Imai is the author of several books explaining how to apply this system that can help us improve so much. One of the first things to remember is that you must question yourself all the time in your job. Secondly, you mustn’t aim for perfection because this will exhaust you as well as repeating what you already know how to do. For this, it’s necessary to understand the causes of the difficulties you encounter in order to solve them sustainably 🤔.

Once these three steps have been completed, you can begin the change by prioritizing your tasks. You will favor easy and fast progress! Above all, you must accomplish all this in cohesion with your colleagues, whether you’re a manager or an employee.

👏 No matter how much you fear hierarchy, you have the right to express yourself and suggest ideas to help everyone make progress!

The different Kaizen techniques

In order to apply the Kaizen method at work, there are different techniques. Oh yes, it’s a good job they exist because otherwise we wouldn’t know where to start!

The PDCA cycle

This is a way of establishing a plan in 4 steps to see if our new idea or goal is working for us:

  • P for “plan”: we plan our tasks according to the problems we’ve previously identified;
  • D for “develop the plan” (or “do”): we do our tasks and apply what we have to do;
  • C for “check”: we check that everything is going well and that it doesn’t affect our other tasks;
  • A for “adjust”: if we see that changes are needed, we make them!

What are the five phases of 5S?

The 5 Ss come from the Japanese: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. They aim to improve our workspace and consequently our well-being. Here’s what they mean:

  • Seiri: clearing, lightening the workspace;
  • Seiton: tidying, optimizing;
  • Seiso: cleaning the workspace;
  • Seiketsu: ordering, preventing the appearance of dirt and disorder;
  • Shitsuke: being rigourous, encouraging self-discipline.

The 5 why's

They allow us to find the cause of a problem we’ve encountered in order to solve it in the long term. To do this, we must ask ourselves why 5 times. The answer to the first “why” leads to the second, and so on:

➜ For example, you’ve fallen behind on a project:

  • Why? Because someone didn’t stick to the schedule.
  • Why? Because they didn’t have all the information.
  • Why? Because it wasn’t given in time.
  • Why? Because the project was launched too late.
  • Why? Because the person responsible for providing the information was absent and wasn’t replaced.

🙅‍♀️ It’s not about finding a culprit, but understanding what went wrong. In this case, it’s a problem of replacement and schedule management. It can also help us to feel less guilty if we see that we’re not able to achieve our goals, and that’s always good to avoid stress at work. Whatever technique we use, we do our best to improve continually 😌!

Editor’s note: Get help to make things easier

As you can see, the Kaizen method is ideal for improving a little each day without any pressure. Yet, it’s not always easy to start this analysis of yourself and your work on your own. We advise you to get help from a coach for this work. You’ll be able to see the progress over the sessions.

🤗 Understanding yourself, accepting yourself, being happy… It’s here and now!
#BornToBeMe

Be sure to check out these articles too;

Article presented by
Katie, M.

"🌻 Discover the world through my eyes."

Read our latest articles here:

How To Have An Orgasm? 6 Tips To Let Go And Enjoy!

How many times have I heard my friends say they couldn't reach orgasm during sex? We all deserve to experience pure pleasure when we're intimate. Personally, when I have sex, I know I’m going to orgasm. Why? Because there are a few key secrets to guarantee pleasure every time. Just like I shared them with my friends, I’m sharing them with you now—let’s dive in! [Yes, this article is specially for people with a vulva!]

Ghosting: When Silence Becomes A Brutal Breakup

One message, then two, then three… but still no response. Ghosting is a cruel breakup method that leaves you completely confused. Suddenly, you have no way to reach someone with whom everything seemed fine just moments ago. Being ghosted is incredibly difficult to handle, which is why it's important to talk about it. I’ll explain what’s behind this behavior and how to heal from it—because even though it’s extremely painful in the moment, you can move past it.

Shadow Work: How To Embrace Your Dark Side?

We all have a shadow side within us, myself included. Just like villains in movies, there are darker aspects of our personality that we prefer to hide from others. However, it’s essential to embrace these shadow parts because, as psychiatrist Carl Jung famously said, "There is no light without shadow." Let’s explore how acknowledging our "dark" side can lead to better psychological balance.

I Want My Parents To Be Proud Of Me—Why?

I'm over 30 years old, and I still feel happy when I share a success with my father. I know it brings me joy, especially since my mother is no longer with us. However, I've never really questioned it: why do I need to feel that my father is proud of me? More broadly, why do we seek our parents' approval? Wanting to make our parents happy is one thing, but it's important to reflect on this more deeply—especially if their approval plays a significant role in our lives.

The 10 Weak Points Of A Narcissist Revealed

Each one of us has our own weaknesses that hold us back in life; be it at work or in relationships. However, on a more positive note, most of us have the will to work on them and transform them. That being said, once narcissists are brought into the picture, the idea that they want to work on their weaknesses doesn’t exactly seem feasible. For a deeper understanding of these narcissists and more insights into the workings of their minds, discover their weak spots and which pointers they struggle with on a daily basis, yet aren't willing to admit or work on 👎.

10 Weird Things Narcissists Do Sexually - Romance Is Dead

As with many things in life, narcissists also have unhealthy relationships with sex and treat it as nothing more than a self-gratifying activity. After all, manipulation, control, and emotional abuse are their so-called trusty weapons that they hide behind in most circumstances, so why wouldn’t they call on them in the bedroom too? The bottom line is people with this personality disorder are used to getting what they want and will only ever put themselves and their pleasure first, which doesn’t bode well for a healthy sex life. 🙈 Discover the weird things narcissists do in the bedroom and what you should do if you are involved with one.

Who Do Narcissists Target?

If reading up on narcissists terrifies you, you probably already realize how dangerous their toxic personalities can be. Although, that being said, I’m probably going to add to the list of reasons as to why you should be ultra wary of these abusers, by revealing who they prey on. One thing that can be said about narcissists is that they certainly aren’t predictable people! 😱 Plus, spoiler alert, they don’t necessarily always choose to emotionally abuse seemingly weak people, no, in fact, they often choose bigger fish to fry because they love a challenge. Discover the types of personalities they hone in on and why.

Why Do I Get Upset When Someone Doesn't Text Back?

Friday night rolls around and after a hard week you were expecting to have a drink with a girlfriend, but she seems to have left you hanging on read... To make matters worse (and the humiliation?) you even saw the little typing sign appear, yet you never received a reply. Well, if that’s the case, obviously you or your "how about a drink tonight?" didn’t deserve an answer. Let’s take a look at why some people don't reply to messages, and why when someone doesn't reply to your text, this makes us feel so bad.

Are Narcissists Insecure?

There is no denying that narcissistic personalities display some deeply worrying and disturbing traits, but what if these devious traits were just a means of protection? What if they were in fact a complete facade, fabricated to keep people away, in the hope of hiding their deepest darkest insecurities? 😱 After all, everyone has weak spots, even the most confident and put together of people, so why wouldn’t a narcissist deal with the same niggling doubts as everyone else? It's time we got to the bottom of this and discovered why these folks are so insecure.

How To Heal From The Pain Of Being Rejected

Whether it’s the breakdown of a relationship, a family dispute, or even being fired dismissal... We have all experienced the feeling of being rejected, excluded, or left out. Whilst some people manage to bounce back quite quickly, others suffer from it in a persistent way. As for me, I understood how to move on, because I was able to recognize my rejection wound. So, how can we overcome the fear of rejection and move on from it?



Wengood's favorite tunes 🎵

Wengood's playlist

wengood

  1. Only LoveBen Howard
    4:08
  2. Invalid date
  3. Fix YouColdplay
    4:55
  4. Beautiful DayU2
    4:08
  5. Thinking out LoudEd Sheeran
    4:41
  6. White FlagDido
    4:00
  7. Lay Me DownSam Smith
    4:13
  8. Nine Million BicyclesKatie Melua
    3:17
  9. Put Your Records OnCorinne Bailey Rae
    3:35
  10. Summertime SadnessLana Del Rey
    4:24
  11. Imagine - Remastered 2010John Lennon
    3:07
  12. Shake It OutFlorence + The Machine
    4:37
  13. Space Oddity - Love You Til Tuesday versionDavid Bowie
    3:46
  14. What A Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong
    2:17
  15. With Or Without YouU2
    4:56
  16. HelloAdele
    4:55
  17. Don't Stop Me NowQueen
    3:29
  18. Skinny LoveBirdy
    3:21
  19. WingsBirdy
    4:12
  20. Californian SoilLondon Grammar
    3:41

How to detect a narcissist

How to detect a narcissist

How to soothe an anxiety attack

How to soothe an anxiety attack