Applying a ‘Kaizen’ Strategy to Improve Your Company: The Only Resolution a Business Leader Should Ever Make
(Originally published in the Hudson Valley Business Journal – January 7, 2008)
The Japanese call it “Kaizen.” Peak performance coach Anthony Robbins calls it “CANI.” Alan Weiss, the Million Dollar Consultant calls it the “1% Solution.” Whatever it is called, it is the only New Year’s Resolution business leaders should be making.
“Kaizen” in Japanese means continuous improvement. Robbins modeled the Japanese with CANI, an acronym for “constant and never-ending improvement,” while Alan Weiss’ “1% Solution” refers to small improvements every day adding up to a doubling of effectiveness in just 70 days.
Each of these very similar concepts focuses on small incremental improvements on a continual basis, which make the transformations developing from these improvements long lasting and impactful. This is the type of resolutions for which business leaders should strive.
The human psyche does not handle well a lot of change in a short period of time. Witness all the rebounding that occurs from weight loss programs applying fad diets. The same is true with business improvement. But a focus on consistent and incremental improvements is very powerful, which is why many US companies today are modeling the Toyota business “Kaizen” strategy.
Here are 5 tips for applying “Kaizen,” “CANI” and the “1% Solution” to your business improvement in 2008:
1) Get feedback:
1. From your team on what they feel are the most important priorities for operational and organizational improvement in 2008.
2. From your customers.
3. Do this through group facilitation and one-on-one interviews. You may want to do it with in-house personnel first to see what type of information you can glean. Then I would suggest hiring an outside professional facilitator to get feedback from both employees and customers so that you can get open, honest, frank feedback than someone might give directly.
2) Apply the 80-20 rule:
In the early 20th Century Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 80 percent of the property in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. Through further study other business philosophers and strategists generalized this concept into other business applications. This is also known as the concept of “vital few and the trivial many.”
It has been my experience that employees spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the “trivial many” when attention on the “vital few” is what creates breakthrough results.
Identify the “vital few” by deciding which areas of focus can create leverage over other areas of your operation. Then focus 80% of your improvement energy and resources the “vital few” but monitor the other key areas to keep them on the radar screen for future development.
3) Create Accountabilities:
Assign individuals or teams and empower them to create improvements and making decisions in those specific areas. Be sure to set specific criteria and deadlines to which responsible parties will be held accountable.
4) Provide Apropriate Resources:
After assigning accountabilities be sure to allow the responsible parties reasonable time and resources to work on these initiatives. Improvement initiatives never fail in the development stages always in the follow through because not enough resources and time have been allocated. When this happens cynicism begins to develop among the staff, and motivation and attitudes wane.
5) Follow Up Consistently:
Set up formal opportunities for accountability and check-ins and stick to them. In the group at the beginning of the process jointly decide on reasonable deadlines and schedule the meetings well in advance so that everyone has them on their calendar.
It took three decades for Toyota’s strategy of “Kaizen” to put the company in a position to overtake America’s auto industry, which it did in early 2007. During that time however, each incremental step added to the company’s credibility and respect in the market place as consumers and industry leaders noticed the improvements the company was making.
Instituting an initiative of constant and never-ending improvement will give your employees an opportunity for personal and professional growth, enhance their self-confidence and explode their belief and enthusiasm for the company for which they spend a minimum of one-third of their life.
It’s a New Year’s Resolution that can have a long-term, comprehensive impact on your business that is well worth the investment.
