Four types of good efforts

“We are struggling to implement Kaizen…”

“Why nobody is working on Kaizen…”

If you have such a problem, use this Buddhist “framework” to reflect on your organizational efforts.

Shoujin.

In Buddhism, Shoujin is a sustained effort to conduct good acts and train oneself. As Japan imported this concept, Shoujin became a purist or formal form of effort. In Shintoism, Shoujin became “cleaning.”

Buddhism talks about four types of right effort.

1️⃣ Efforts to eliminate bad things that have already happened.

2️⃣ Efforts to prevent bad things from happening.

3️⃣ Efforts to initiate good things to happen.

4️⃣ Efforts to enlarge good things that already happened.

Let’s change this into something related to operations.

1️⃣ Problem-solving.

2️⃣ Prevention.

3️⃣ Kaizen.

4️⃣ Kaizen of Kaizen.

Now, let’s look at each topic.

1️⃣ Problem-solving.

Bad things happen in production or operations; when they do, people must do some work. Scraps and defects must be removed or repaired. The broken machine needs to be fixed. Materials need to be reordered. The plan needs to be rescheduled. We need to contact the customer if such issues impact them. These problem-dealing activities require resources and time.

Problem-solving should be an activity that eliminates the cause of the above issues. It is not hiding the problem or adding more resources and time, which some people may be confused about. I don’t think Buddha ever said that when you do something bad, you hide it. Unfortunately, many misunderstand this and rush to add resources to problem-dealing activities.

The question is, how many resources are allocated for such problem-related activities, especially problem-dealing?

The proper answer is that it’s hard to distinguish those activities. Why? Typically, we mix such responsibilities. Instead of separating cyclic work from abnormal work, they bundle and add allowances. Even worse, they don’t define standardized work, so people have to deal with problems. Many assign new names to deal with problems and make it look like a new process. One purpose of developing a standardized work is to separate cyclic and abnormal work. By using the lowest repeatable cycle time as the standard time, any problem will be highlighted. Then, the Andon system pulls the help to solve the problem. Even if separating problem-dealing and problem-solving is hard, we still do our best to separate the two and shift from dealing to solving problems.

2️⃣ Prevention.

One effort that should be made is to prevent bad things from happening.

Instead of machine downtime and repair, we should perform preventive maintenance. Instead of running out of materials, we should have a reliable production plan and ensure the required materials are coming. Instead of suffering from the absence of a particular worker for a specific process, we should cross-train a group of people.

Who is responsible for such preventive activities?

When Dr. Juran came to Japan, he left an interesting quote: “Management is about prevention.” Since I have not seen the original English comment, I guess he said, “Control is about prevention.” Because of his quote, prevention is the responsibility of management. Yes, operators are involved in preventative activities, and specific functionalities are responsible for specific preventive activities. However, management is accountable for going to the genba and ensuring these preventative measures are in place. My coach used the example of a pilot who walks around the aircraft and checks the paperwork before the flight. A good manager will visit the genba to ensure these preventative measures are in place.

Unfortunately, such behavior is rare. Many managers think attending a meeting in the morning and discussing the problems is the start of the day. As my coach said, “Why are they looking at yesterday’s newspaper?” “Why don’t they ensure the system is ready for today’s work at the beginning, then work on problems?” An essential management responsibility is preventing an organization from living with known problems. Very often, organizations heroize those who deal with problems. But let’s not forget those who prevented the problem. It’s hard to see those efforts.

3️⃣ Kaizen.

Initiating something good to happen.

Does it care in what form? No. As long as it is good, who cares which form? It might be done with the guidance of a coach. It might be done based on free will. It might be based on a suggestion system. It might be a self-study group. It might be workshops initiated by management.

An important note is that we don’t know what triggers an individual to have an improvement idea. What makes someone interested in creating a Kaizen is not clear. Therefore, be creative and have many options for involving people. Kaizen is the same as Buddhism or any other religion. How do they create interest or invite people to join and train? There are many methods.

4️⃣ Kaizen of Kaizen.

Kaizen activity is the subject of Kaizen. We can improve improvement activities. How can we make them faster? How can we increase the quantity? How can we improve the quality of improvements? How can we be more effective in meeting our goals and strategic needs?

For example, Yokoten. Yokoten is the deployment of Kaizen to different processes and organizations. Once I submitted a plan to Yokoten, allocating the same amount of time it took us to get there. The coach immediately challenged why. What did we learn from the initial process so that we can guide people better? He suggested we allocate sufficient time for new people to familiarize themselves with the latest improvements. But that doesn’t mean we need the same time and resources. As we Yokoten, the improvement improves and provides feedback on the original, which is a better idea. As my coach said, Yokoten is not a copycat. Each Yokoten is an opportunity to improve the original.

Kaizen of Kaizen is about shifting people's efforts from problems and Muda (Wastes) to kaizen. Kaizen doesn’t have to mean more work. We don’t have to cry about needing more people for Kaizen or making a new department. We need to convert some efforts towards Kaizen. It would be good to pick up this framework from Buddhism and reflect on the organizational effort. I am sure you will find something to improve.