OUR BRAND
step by step change for the better
What is 'Kaizen'?
Kaizen is a Japanese continuous improvement approach that literally means to change or correct for the better. This is the company name because all that we do relates back to striving for perfection, continuously improving and changing for the better. Our goal is to break away from the status quo.
Kaizen is both an external and internal process.
External Process
The external process involves the main practice of continuous improvement and lean management. Toyota is the best example of a company that has used continuous improvement effectively. It involves planning and employee engagement to reduce inefficiency and anything that is not of value to the customer.
Principles of kaizen
Effective Processes
Effective processes will bring about good results
Self Reflection
Self-reflection is vital for understanding the current situation
Collaborative Approach
Work as a team
Responsibility
Kaizen is the responsibility of everyone involved
Management Style
Speak with data and manage by facts
Effective Action
Take action to correct the root of problems in an efficient manner
Embrace Change
The biggest results come from many small changes
Kaizen for your business
We take the principles of Kaizen and instil the philosophy into how we work with you:
1. We recognise that nothing stays the same – that organisations continuously develop and change and that there is always scope for improvement. By working with Kai-zen organisations to take small, incremental steps over time that result in sustainable change.
2. Your business will think about the customer first, and define value from the perspective of the final customer.
3. Kaizen is a gentler, employee friendly way to bring about incremental changes over time. Our activities therefore involve employees at all levels, with an emphasis on employees working on the front-line.
4. Organisations improve efficiencies – build the right quantity, of the right service, at the right time – and provide only what is needed – by the customer.
Internal Process
To change the world we have to start with ourselves, we have to do the 'inner work'. Continuous self-improvement will result in change in the external world. The survival of the planet is a question of state of mind, which needs a psychology, a new mindset. We need to work with the inner-outer, mind-nature divide.
We hyphenated the brand to emphasise the ‘zen’ which links to the philosophical element of our work and the inner-outer aspect of our work.
What is Zen?
Zen is our true nature, being in the present moment and the joy of being. It is the direct experience of ultimate reality. It is not a doctrine or a belief. It is simply the pure essence of being.
Here at Kai-zen we bring in the practice of zen to support our clients. This involves being perfectly present, free from the past, future, free from self-imposed and imprisoning barriers that we create for ourselves, and free from conditioned views and compulsions. Through this process we can discover the true self, that is clear, open, confident, unhindered and flowing. And from this we can bring about change, that is clear and heart felt.