The Secret Sauce of Kaizen
The ears have it.
I won’t bury the lead, it’s listening, really hearing, respecting, and acting on the best ideas of employee voices. Actually the voices of those that do the work every day.
If you want to fix a problem or get to a root cause, they are the ones to listen to.
Sam Walton was famous for randomly showing up at stores, without a possie like most executives. When his company grew beyond driving distance he learned how to fly and bought a plane. He went where he wanted when he wanted. Even as his company experienced sustained high growth he always made time to visit stores.
His most important management tool, a yellow notepad. He carried it everywhere, noting employee ideas and comments.
Even today, a notepad and pen is the most powerful management tool of all time.
Here is the key, those ideas, and suggestions from the field turned into action items.
He would challenge the executive staff with ideas and concerns that he picked up on store visits. This wasn’t a sometimes thing, it was an all-the-time thing.
I have no idea if Mr. Sam ever heard of Kaizen, but he epitomized it in his daily habits. He dedicated his life to making his company a little better every day. That idea was infused through the company.
It kinda worked out.
Lots of ways to connect with me:
I am happy to connect on LinkedIn.
Check out some great custom artwork at my Redbubble site.
You can also find me on Pinterest.
I also write on a variety of topics on Medium.