One of the basic leadership management principles taught in business school is the Japanese culture of continuous improvement, kaizen.
Primarily used in management, manufacturing, and business processes, kaizen is a trusted practice that can be widely applied across a multitude of industries. From problem solving to personal development, kaizen is widely adopted in business leadership training as corporate trainers aim to improve the performance of leaders.
While the concept of kaizen is fairly straightforward, implementation requires a considered approach to use the principle effectively.
Since the process is built on continuity, management is continually involved in planning, refining, acting, and implementing change, which literally comes full circle.
This is often referred to as PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Act. This cycle of activity can be summarized as follows:
- standardized operation
- measure activity
- Weight measurements against requirements
- Innovate (change) to meet requirements
- Standardizes new and improved operation
Kaizen is seen as the key to Japan’s competitive success in recent decades, particularly in the automotive and manufacturing industries for which the country is famous.
Leadership and management development adopts a kaizen approach as corporate trainers can apply the principle to their own business. To fully understand the practices of a leadership coach, there are five key areas or ‘elements’ that need to be appreciated:
- management teamwork
- Increased Job Responsibilities
- Quality circles
- Managerial Suggestions for Labor Improvement
- Higher management morale
The items described above are literal activities in which an individual can track and measure performance, primarily to improve their business and implement the kaizen process at all levels of responsibility.
While modifying a process may seem like a daunting task at first glance, looking at business processes objectively allows a manager or owner to critically review and measure ongoing performance. This isn’t too different from the golden rule of marketing: don’t actively engage in marketing activities unless you can measure or benchmark yourself to review performance.
Taking this rule of thumb and applying it throughout your business will allow you to set SMART goals:
Specific – get to the point, include numbers and/or metrics
Measurable – X against Y is better than X against a hunch
Realizable – make sure you can physically meet your goals
Realistic – draw a best, worst and average scenario
based on time – deadlines guarantee implementation of plans
SMART goals coupled with kaizen principles will lay a strong foundation for your business and ensure you are prepared for change.
