From the library
Kaizen
Masaaki Imai, 1986
In one paragraph
Imai's introduction of kaizen to Western management: continuous, incremental improvement driven by the people doing the work rather than by projects imposed on them. The contribution is the argument that standards exist to be improved rather than enforced. Most useful as the philosophical ground under later lean writing. Least useful as a manual, since it is dated, heavily Japan-specific, and thin on how to start from nothing.
Where this sits in the operating system
Systems Over Goals
Systems Over Goals
Systems Over Goals
Systems Over Goals
Key insights
Improvement is continuous and incremental, driven by the people doing the work rather than imposed as a project.
Standards exist to be improved, not enforced. A standard is the current best-known method and nothing more.
Process indicators matter alongside results. Judging only outcomes destroys the behaviour that produces them.
Recognise it early
The failure and the correction sit side by side deliberately. Read the left column asking whether any of it is already true of you.
Big‑bang bias
No standardization
Hidden wins
Leader‑only improvements
Too many in‑flight changes
The same idea, argued differently
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
Ryan Deiss
Dan Sullivan, Benjamin Hardy
Peter Drucker
The full breakdown
Before you close this
Naming the specific moment you will act roughly doubles the odds you do.
Reference
- Author
- Masaaki Imai
- Published
- 1986
- Category
- Business
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