Personal Reflection on Kaizen

SOCU1016 Culture and Business Practices Asia

Courage, Humility, Kaizen by Darrill Wilburn

 Critical Reflective Writing[pic 1]

Name: Maddison Tuite

Student ID: s3540023

Tutor: Tommaso Durante

Tutorial Time: Thursday 2:30 – 4:30

Habits of a person can ultimately shape the way they interpret a role and reflect upon their choices. Prior teachings are a major contributor to that and although they can be highly effective, some teachings are only suited to specific situations, thus if applied in others they would ultimately fail. In a workplace, these habits can evolve into attributes and downfalls when in leadership. The teaching of Kaizen has allowed many to thrive in leadership roles and has inspired change within individuals whom possess self-doubt. All elements in the Kaizen process are necessary in order to evoke this change, as well as complete open-mindedness towards “constant reflection” (Hansei). An understanding of Kaizen and its teachings partnered with personal factors have ultimately allowed for a conclusion that reflection will be integrated into everyday and professional life.

Kaizen is a combination of two Japanese words, Kai and Zen, which translates quite literally to “change for the better” or “continual improvement” in a common sense (Alukal & Manos, 2006). The Kaizen teaching entails 4 key components, as well as a desire for change and improvement, that without the teaching will be irrelevant. “Hansei” is essentially translates to the concept of constant reflection. In order to achieve Kaizen, a Hansei outlook is needed in order to understand the relationship between right and wrong when handling a situation. In a Hansei-Kaizen culture, “everyone feels responsible and accountable for their decisions, and when a mistake has been made, it is more important to fix it and make sure that no one else will make the same mistake again…” according to Medinilla (2012, p.29). In addition to the reflection teaching, “Humility” and “Courage” are both essential to successfully initiate “continual improvement” within ones leadership, ones workplace and ones personal life. The “Humility” component is to understand the process and the “Courage” is to identify the problems, even if it means approaching a friend or foe.

 The Kaizen teaching is orientated around performing tasks in increments or milestones, rather than enforcing a concept with full force in hope that it will not result in failure. It requires one to understand the problem first, before seeking out a resolution, whilst improving an individual. Elaborating further on the principles of Humility and Courage, Wilburn (2012, p. 13-14) notes that, “If we want to build a culture of long-term, sustainable continuous improvement, then we must first develop the Courage to challenge our thinking, to expose problems, and to solve them. It is also vital that we combine our Courage with the Humility to deeply understand the current situation, including the needs of the customers.” Combining these two principles creates the entire basis for Kaizen and a culture of continuous improvement to be active. Approaching Kaizen with just courage will then ultimately appear to be identifying a person’s a process’s disadvantages and what one doesn’t like about it or them. Kaizen with only a Humility approach is unproductive and appears to be constantly seeking understanding, rather than seeking it and then acting upon it. The combination of power to constructively criticize and the active seeking of information and then the ability to act upon it is the Kaizen way.