Kaizen Starters
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This document introduces 16 "Kaizen Starters" - quests to help identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Each starter provides a keyword, quest, and things to look for. The starters include quests like "align", "audit", "clarify", "complete", "correct", "create", and "document" among others, to help see processes with a fresh perspective and get unstuck. The goal is to customize them for personal or team kaizen efforts to continuously improve.
Kaizen Starters
- 1. KAIZEN STARTERS 16 little quests to help get us improving
- 2. Created by Tom Curtis 2011 Blog: www.onimproving.blogspot.com Presentations: on www.slideshare.net/onimproving Email: ideamerchants@gmail.com Twitter: @onimproving
- 3. INTRODUCTION Kaizen Starters We can all make improvement. Sometimes we see clearly where we can get better and how to do it. At other times it is not as clear or easy for us. This deck is for those times. What follows is 16 quest cards called “Kaizen Starters”. Each card has a keyword, a quest, and things we should look for. As we use them, we will see Kaizen opportunities. Use these quests to see things anew or to get unstuck, then adapt and add to them to customize them for your personal or team use. Let’s get kaizening. -Tom Curtis
- 4. ALIGN Kaizen Starters The Quest: build alignment steps that do not fit together, differing priorities, What to look for: disconnections, conflicting instructions
- 5. AUDIT Kaizen Starters The Quest: check a process or activity repeating processes, activities to watch or walk, What to look for: steps to follow, “ways things are done”, personal habits
- 6. CLARIFY Kaizen Starters The Quest: make something more clear wordiness, confusion, poor What to look for: word choice, hard to follow directions
- 7. COMPLETE Kaizen Starters The Quest: complete an open action items almost done, What to look for: abandoned projects, items long on a to do list
- 8. CORRECT Kaizen Starters return activity or process to The Quest: its standard things broken, items unkept, What to look for: errors, mistakes
- 9. CREATE Kaizen Starters The Quest: create, build, or design need for something new, a What to look for: missing step, a gap in the current state
- 10. DOCUMENT Kaizen Starters The Quest: create documentation undocumented activities, What to look for: opportunities to create a standard
- 11. DUPLICATE Kaizen Starters replicate an idea, action, or The Quest: process from someplace else good that can transfer, What to look for: situations you have solved before, common issues
- 12. LEARN Kaizen Starters learn a better way or improve The Quest: skill or understanding interests, skills to be improved, activities we do What to look for: not understand, impending change, new processes
- 13. MAP Kaizen Starters The Quest: map a process or activity steps, hidden actions, inputs, What to look for: outputs, transitions, waste, failure points, stress
- 14. ORGANIZE Kaizen Starters The Quest: improve order objects without a place, lack What to look for: of cleanliness, poor visual appearance
- 15. REMOVE Kaizen Starters remove large or small The Quest: annoyances what bugs you, issues that What to look for: repeat frequently, what you or others do not like doing
- 16. REORDER Kaizen Starters change order of steps to find The Quest: possible synergy poor step order, related What to look for: activities, proximity, similar activities
- 17. SIMPLIFY Kaizen Starters remove unneeded The Quest: complexity extra motion, unneeded What to look for: steps, actions that are too hard, wasteful repetition
- 18. TEACH Kaizen Starters teach someone how to do an The Quest: activity or process items hard to explain, opportunities to improve, a What to look for: chance to improve someones skills or understanding
- 19. WATCH Kaizen Starters The Quest: observe a process waste, unevenness, strain, What to look for: communication, things done well, opportunities