Why Kaizen Isn’t Just for Factories: How It Can Transform Your Business and Life

A mindset of constant improvement can unearth and fight hidden inefficiencies everywhere.

Where it comes?from

Kaizen is a continuous improvement method originally invented in Japan after WWII. It aims to remove waste (or “muda”) in small steps, and all workers should be involved in finding and implementing improvements.

The method is popular with companies, as it can uncover untapped optimization potential directly at the base and doesn’t cost a lot. Furthermore, it has an element of cultural change, as employees of all levels are involved.

Where I learned?it

In 2011, I started working as a Business Engineer Ground Services at Swiss International Air Lines. My main task was to improve the ground and airport processes at all the stations the airline was flying to worldwide.

The method? Kaizen.

The training? On-site in Japan, at a Toyota plant. The course instructor was a Kaizen practitioner since the first days of Kaizen, calling himself the father of moonshine.

The reactions within the company? Lots of resistance. Not another management fad. The transfer of the Japanese culture will never work in the Western world. No time for week-long Kaizen workshops. How should we ever save money with small improvements when we burn millions of liters of kerosene each day?

My favorite Kaizen improvement was fuel savings of more than 1m USD per annum by optimizing zero-fuel weights on long-haul flights. It took months to achieve these efforts, and they were sparked by a simple side comment from a station manager during a Kaizen workshop, saying that zero-fuel weights would be wrong all the time. This meant that aircraft were fueled more than necessary, burning more fuel than necessary. Not nice for the environment, and not nice for the cash management of an airline.

That’s what Kaizen can do to an airline that burns millions of liters of kerosene each day. Kaizen won’t save your company or the planet, but it pays off handsomely if done consistently and with an open mind.

How I use it today as an entrepreneur

Almost 15 years later, I have long quit that job that first got me involved with Kaizen. I have also long ago quit the world of large corporations to become an entrepreneur.

What has stayed from my 2-year full-time involvement with Kaizen?

As an entrepreneur and an engineer by training, I am a firm believer in continuous improvement. No matter if it’s capital efficiency in my company or energy efficiency in my solar power plant at home, I am constantly improving all aspects of my life.

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. Even if you lead by example, plan diligently, and offer a compelling product, things will not go according to your plans all the time. Kaizen can be one element of getting things back to plan: The step-by-step approach advocated by Kaizen can be applied to almost anything.

Looking to improve the performance of your team? Start optimizing the performance of the lowest performer in your team instead of embarking on an all-encompassing performance initiative. When the performance of the lowest performer has been improved, move on to the second-lowest performer. And so on.

Looking to improve your cost base? Start optimizing the largest cost blocks. Here is a recent example from my daily life as the Founder & CEO of Yonder, a B2B SaaS company: Office space has become cheap and abundant over the last few years, as many companies never fully returned from the remote work mode after COVID-19. It’s the same for us. Our office is big and pricey, and many alternatives at a quarter of the price are available within walking distance.

Looking to improve your personal work organization? Start by eliminating time-wasters and energy drains. Even if you think you’re well-organized, you’ll find many forms of waste you can eliminate step-by-step. Welcome to personal Kaizen.

You see, you don’t need to talk about the 7 mudas, 5S, or the 4 M’s operations reliability all the time to live and breathe Kaizen in your daily life.

Kaizen is a mindset, not an activity, and it will unlock significant results over time.

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