3rd commandment
From: Norman Bodek
Sent: October 10, 2004
Dear Group:
I was very excited when I received the 10 Commandments of Kaikaku from Hirano and enjoy
sharing them with you. I do hope you find these emails of value for your lean efforts.
Kaikaku means radical change. A Kaizen Blitz is a Kaikaku. Lean, the Toyota Production
System, is a Kaikaku for you and your organization - very simple in its theory, easy to do
- just every day reduce the non-value adding wastes, but you must overcome your
"resistance to change."
The 3rd
commandment of Kaikaku is: "Don't accept excuses. Totally deny the status quo."
The chairman of Toyota, Mr. Okuda said, "Failure to change is a
vice - I want everyone at Toyota to change and also to not be an obstacle for someone else
who wants to change." He also asked his supervisors and managers to come up with
annual change plans. Imagine the above statement coming from the chairman of the
originators of lean, actually the best corporation in the world today. It is as if Toyota
with 50 billion in cash is still running hard with fear that the competition is going to
catch them. Change is really what our jobs are all about and yet we all seem to resist
change. So many of us can always find fault with something new. I will share a secret with
you: "Nothing is perfect and you can always find a reason not to do something."
The challenge is for you to overcome your fears
and your resistance and as Dr. Shingo always said, "Do it!"
Nakao, an internal consultant to Toyota, and the key person who brought Kaizen
Blitz to America was always frightened of Dr. Shingo, who came by once a month to his
company. Shingo would always give him an assignment for the month.
Nakao was fearful of the criticism he would get from Shingo if he didn't do the assignment
successfully.
Please study the 3rd commandment and tell us what you think about it.
Best regards,
Norman Bodek
Author of Kaikaku The Power and Magic of Lean
From: April Wicker
Sent: October 10, 2004
Dear Norman
Kaikaku means radical change. Does that necessarily mean fast, rapid change? Can kaikaku
change take a year, like we currently do annual planning?
April Wicker
From: Norman Bodek
Sent: October 10, 2004
Dear April,
Kaikaku is large changes, innovation is Kaikaku, and Lean is Kaikaku. Kaizen Blitz is
Kaikaku which is normally done in a week but many changes can take much longer. If your
annual plans are making a significant shift in what you are doing and how you are doing it
then you could also call that a Kaikaku.
We are talking about change, the need to change to solve problems and to be competitive.
We define change in two ways:
Kaizen - small changes where everyone is empowered to offer and implement their creative
ideas. Kaizen involves all employees in continuous improvement. In Japan, the average
employee offers and implements two improvement ideas per month. Doing this in your company
would be a Kaikaku.
Kaikaku is larger changes: changing the entire process from the old smoke stacks to one
piece flow, implementing Lean principles, bringing in a new product, getting people
involved in team activites, etc.
We use these Japanese foreign words to help us think with new eyes.
Thank you for your question.
Best regards,
Norman Bodek
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