How Can You Power Your Performance with Kaizen?

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Practices such as Kaizen revolutionised the manufacturing industries in the seventies and eighties. Toyota became mighty and its Toyota Way became a mantra thanks to Kaizen. Toyota was wise. It learnt the concepts of Kaizen from quality prophets such as Juran and Deming who were not honoured in their own countries. This cost the manufacturing industry, especially the American auto industry dearly.

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Fortunately, some other industries listened. While GM, Ford and Chrysler struggled to face Toyota, Motorola, General Electric and the nascent IT industries reframed the Toyota Way in multiple other ways. Over time Leam Manufacturing and Lean Thinking emerged from these practices. Sig Sigma too. In later years these concepts were applied as AGILE practices in the technology industry. In all these Kaizen and related practices were foundational.

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How can Kaizen be applied to coaching?

Kaizen means good change and refers to continuously working on what one does to improve. In simple words, it means Continuous Improvement. Combined with other practices such as 5S, 5 Why, Kanban or fool-proofing, Just In Time, Next process is Your Customer and others, these original tenets of Toyota Way can make an industry and company invincible.

Coaching competencies align naturally with Kaizen. At the core, it is about awareness, awareness of what works, what doesn't and what needs improvement. The process is constant and continuous, but not repetitive. Changes in the environment cannot be responded to in a cookie-cutter way. each change needs to be viewed with the challenges it brings and solutions crafted to address the needs of the change. One needs to observe, listen, explore, collaborate and create collective systemic awareness. This is the Coach's Way.

Coacharya's frameworks of DEMO, LASIE SET and 5A align effectively with the Kaizen approach in coaching.

DEMO

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?Newton's Laws of Motion is alive and well despite Quantum Science. An object in motion can screech to a stop when obstructed. The obstruction in most cases is change. This change be internal and external. It can be a machine failure, a system defect, an operator malfunction or an external shift. When such failures repeat, the problem is systemic and cannot be solved with band-aid repairs.

?One needs to view the obstacles created by the change (O), figure out a sustainable meaningful way to address them (M), and evolve a desired course of action (D), which can be evidenced successfully (E).

?This process requires observational and analytical skills and critical thinking. Often, emotional intelligence skills are needed when the obstacles involve human interactions. ?

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?LASIE SET

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In almost all activities communication is critical. Improvements to how we communicate in Emotional Intelligence, Clean Language, and non-violent communication enhance the quality of our relationships and performance. Good communication begets great awareness.

?Coacharya's framework of Listening, Appreciating, Sharing, Inquiring, and Exploring Sensorily, Emotionally, and Thoughtfully stands in good stead for communicating better and evoking greater awareness.

?In the Kaizen framework, Gemba walks by going around one's workspace literally or virtually are standard practices to observe what is going on, listen to people appreciative, share and inquire to gain awareness of what can be improved.

5A: Aware, Act, Anchor, Align and Appreciate

The PDCA cycle of Kaizen aligns with the 5A framework in Planning, Doing, Checking and Acting in taking action on one's insights, anchoring them with follow-up and feedback, aligned with what one's core business objectives are, appreciatively.

?Reflection

?Kaizen is the visible tip of the iceberg of several powerful Toyota Way practices, which change the way all machines and devices, not merely automobiles have been manufactured. These principles apply to all management and leadership activities enhancing performance systemically.

?If this article ignited your curiosity about the intersection of the Japanese Kaizen approaches and leadership development, share it with your network! Subscribe to my 'Coaching the Spirit' newsletter for more cutting-edge content on coaching methodologies, spirituality, and leadership in today's dynamic workplace. Together, let's shape the future of leadership in the era of interconnected systems!

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