ONE of my favorite quizzes for people who attend my kaizen workshops is to give many simple, low-cost, common-sense solutions to problems that are often ignored because they are trivial.

As an example, when an organization has a "clean as you go" policy in a cafeteria, training room or toilet, among other places, employees are expected to do their share by depositing their own trash in appropriate bins.

Don't expect the janitors or the cafeteria busboys to do it for you. Everyone must share doing this simple task. It's easy to do, anyway. And it's for the purpose of instilling self-discipline.

But, how do we improve the cooperation of people? Inside the cafeteria, make it easy for them by providing them with food trays that they can bring to their table, and after consuming the food and beverage, send the tray back to an area for segregation and eventual washing.

Another illustration. In the company's conference area, after a training program, town hall meeting, or whatever, people are also expected to "clean as you go." We make it easy for them to cooperate by placing the trash bins in strategic areas, including one near the door, so they don't have to do a circuitous route looking for it.

So, why do we hear complaints about this simple task? The complainants ask: Why do we hire janitors and busboys in the first place? The answer is easy — if you don't do your share, we'll be forced to spend money hiring additional janitors and busboys to clean up your mess. That could result in increasing the price of our meals.

JDI

That's easy to understand. Whatever name you want to call it, continuous improvement, kaizen, lean thinking, or even my favorite tagline "Thinking People Strategy," there are many solutions that need not require an extended debate by stakeholders. These ideas are necessary, practical and easy to do.

All the organization has to follow is JDI, an acronym for "Just do it." They are improvement ideas that need not require an extensive analysis and much more debate from managers, employees and the trade union.

JDI is a low-risk proposition. They don't require big investments. That means we don't expect people to spend time agonizing if a simple policy like "clean as you go" is worth the time doing an intellectual analysis.

Lest we forget, give credit where it's due: JDI is the famous trademark of sports apparel Nike. The tagline was coined by an advertising company and credits Gary Gilmore, a death row inmate whose last words were "Let's do it."

Marginal gains

Many organizations are still suffering from the death of overthinking. They don't understand the principle behind the accumulation of marginal gains (another interpretation of kaizen) as they appear impatient waiting for big ideas to come. But that's not how it works.

What's guaranteed to work is to have a system that would allow management to solicit, analyze, and implement ideas from employees willing to become part of an army of problem-solvers. If you do that as a matter of routine, your people can create many bigger things than what you can imagine.

I've done it countless times when I was active in the corporate world. Even today, I do it all the time when consulting for organizations. I would tell them — 1 percent improvement idea given each by 100 workers is better than 100 percent idea given by a manager.

Even the best managers can't solve problems alone. They can't swallow an "elephant" in one big bite. They must chop the elephant in bite sizes so they can be handled properly by all workers.

Managers don't have the time in this world to solve, much more the patience to analyze trivial tasks like "clean-as-you-go" as an essential component of 5S good housekeeping — a prerequisite before one can do waste elimination and standard work, in that order of priority.

These three things must be given priority even ahead of an ISO certification. Otherwise, you'll have difficulties in following the requirements of ISO. If you don't know this, you are missing a lot of opportunities. Therefore, the best way to protect yourself from unwanted surprises is to avoid becoming a rebel without a cause, challenging a modest policy like "clean as you go."

Rey Elbo is a business consultant on human resources and total quality management. Contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com

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