The Muda of not doing Kaizen

Once in a while, we receive strange requests. “Please come and list up all the Muda.” I thought they misused some words and checked to do Kaizen, or continuous improvement. Then they responded, “No, that’s too much.” I politely declined to visit.

A long time ago, a factory gave my TPS coach a big presentation: a beautiful map, X% waste in what process, bla-bla-bla. Quickly, my coach got upset. “Where is Kaizen?” “Oh, we have a plan.” My coach just left without seeing the plan. However, his anger was justified a few years later. I returned to the plant and discovered that nothing had been done. “What happened to the plan and that group?” The answer was “They did nothing and left the company.”

Let’s discuss this real problem—the Muda of not practicing Kaizen.

This is a behavior where people don’t engage in Kaizen, even when they recognize they have problems or Muda. “I see, I hear, I talk, but I do nothing.”

Such behaviors appear in many formats.

A classic example: “Let’s wait since this might be statistically insignificant.” When a problem arose, this was the reaction. Taiichi Ohno’s wisdom: “There is no such thing as a big or small problem. We have to solve every problem anyway. Don’t waste time thinking about what to work on first.”

Another example is that many people like “Visualization.” Andon, 5S, Kanban, etc. And many places are thinking, “We implemented, now it’s done.” No, implementation is just the beginning. These visualizations highlight Muda and problems. As we highlight these things, we must conduct Kaizen. Unfortunately, many have conveniently neglected this part.

Here are several reasons why conducting Kaizen after problems or Muda are identified is essential.

1️⃣ Respect for human

Muda is the worst form of disrespect for humans. As my coach said, “We humans have limited time. Don’t waste anyone's time.” Yes, we would not have reached these perfect conditions without Muda. However, acknowledging that Muda or problems exist but not taking action is far worse than not recognizing Muda. Once identified, the immediate next step must be Kaizen. Kaizen is the only form of respect.

2️⃣ Critics or Doers

What type of individuals do you want in your organization? While watching sports, audiences often find commentators entertaining. However, what happens when they take on the head coach role for an actual team? Not everyone finds success. This has certainly been true with my sports teams. They excel at criticizing but struggle with implementation. A similar dynamic exists with Muda and Kaizen. Many can identify Muda, but the crucial aspect is the ability to carry out Kaizen. This execution significantly affects business outcomes. In business, we need not just critics but individuals who execute Kaizen. Avoid training people to become critics; simply discussing Muda is ineffective. Instead, they should be taught to implement Kaizen concerning the identified Muda from day one.

3️⃣ The perfect time for Kaizen

I often encountered an excuse for not doing kaizen because of time: “Today is not a good day.” Hmm… when is a good day? If today is not a good day, tomorrow won't be either. Next week will be the same. And the good day never comes. Anybody who has worked in operations should know that free time will not come. Such procrastination has another side effect. People forget or get used to the Muda. It becomes normal. Once it becomes normal, it takes more effort to eliminate the Muda. Waiting looks like a break. Inventory looks like a safety. Motion becomes something necessary. The longer the ignored Muda stays, the harder it is to eliminate.

“Busy” in Japanese is 【忙】. The left side 【 忄 】 represents heart or soul, and the right side 【亡】 means death. Using “busy” as an excuse for not doing Kaizen indicates that your heart and soul towards Kaizen are dead. Personally, I address the Muda and feel the pain first, then focus on the Kaizen before the pain disappears. For example, I work on the defect repair and become sick and tired of it. Then, I work on poka-yoke while managing my frustration. I clean up the mess caused by overproduction and then work on stopping it while I endure back pain. The best time to do Kaizen is right after I have experienced the pain of the muda.

4️⃣ Perfection

“Perfection.” There seem to be different thinkers on this topic. Some claim we need a perfect plan to improve. They spend hours brainstorming ideas and scheduling their implementation. Yet, such a plan never materializes on time. This is because when you change something, unexpected troubles arise. The plan freezes.

The real Kaizen happens after we make the first change. I firmly believe that nothing goes perfectly from day one. What is more important is the follow-up Kaizen and small incremental ideas that continue. We don’t need to be perfect on paper; we need to become perfect on Genba. We don’t need to be perfect at the beginning; we need to become perfect at the end.

That doesn’t mean we don’t need a good Kaizen plan. A good Kaizen plan allows people to focus on Kaizen activities without distractions. The objectives and targets are clear. The free resources that can be used are clear. The standards for safety, quality, and stability are clear, which allows people to change things without damaging the products or people.

Don’t overthink. Try first.

Please don’t separate finding Muda and Kaizen. The two should be inseparable.

What you can do from tomorrow is to value the small trials. Your realization of this will be the first step to changing your workplace.