lowered (excess resources removed), revealing the rocks or problems that need to be solved.
Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) The Japanese refer to continuous improvement as kaizen (pronounced ky'zen). To the Japanese, kaizen means to strive relentlessly to increase quality, efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of life including personal, family, social, and work. Although this concept definition may sound somewhat individualistic, the Japanese emphasize small incremental, but cumulative holistic improvements. The continuous improvement approach is illustrated by the Shewhart-Deming plan-do-check or study-action (PDCA or PDSA) cycle that appears in Figure 8-4. The plan step includes identifying a problem, or potential for improvement, and developing a plan for the problem's solution. The do step includes a trial run of the planned solution which is evaluated in the check step. Correctly evaluating the trial run depends on an understanding of the variation in the system. It is important not to confuse common causes 15