The 5 S of Kaizen: continuous improvement in your work environment

You’ve probably heard of Kaizen, an Eastern philosophy based on continuous improvement. Around this concept, a method has been developed that revolves around the 5 S’s of Kaizen. Would you like to learn about them and apply them to your daily life? In this post, we’ll go over each one in detail!

The 5 S’s of Kaizen

The 5 S’s of Kaizen were created by Japanese companies in the 20th century, and they encompass the five key principles that summarize an entire lifestyle and philosophy rooted in change, improvement, and productivity. The term itself is made up of two words: “kai” (change) and “zen” (goodness). Below, we explain what each of these five principles consists of:

• Seiri (Sort): refers to the importance of classifying and separating the necessary from the unnecessary. The goal is to eliminate everything that isn’t essential or a priority to improve efficiency. In this step, clutter must be removed — whether it’s physical objects, thoughts, ideas, or processes that hinder progress.
• Seiton (Set in order): after sorting, everything must be organized — that is, assigned its own space, position, and importance. For physical elements, everything should have a designated place, which makes it easier to locate and access when needed.
• Seiso (Shine): this principle focuses on maintaining a clean and clear environment. It involves regularly cleaning work areas, equipment, and tools. Extrapolated to the mental realm, it means keeping our minds free of paralyzing or negative thoughts that prevent us from working efficiently toward our goals. In the workplace, this helps prevent accidents, reduces search time, and improves employee morale.
• Seiketsu (Standardize): this step establishes standards and procedures to maintain the first three “S’s” (sort, set in order, and shine). Standardization ensures that continuous improvement efforts are sustainable over time and become habitual practices.
• Shitsuke (Discipline): the final “S” refers to discipline and self-discipline. It’s essential to first be disciplined and demanding with ourselves so that everyone on the team takes responsibility for their tasks. Discipline means staying focused on meeting established standards and conducting regular reviews to ensure they’re being properly applied.

What is the true origin of the Kaizen philosophy?

The Kaizen method has its roots in Japan and dates back to the post–World War II era. During the 1950s, Japan was in a fragile and unstable economic situation, so to rebuild the country and its industries, it became necessary to find new ways to improve efficiency and productivity in factories and businesses. As a result, leading Japanese companies adopted and developed Kaizen as a business culture.

The development of Kaizen is mainly attributed to Japanese engineer and consultant Masaaki Imai, who popularized the term during the 1980s. However, as mentioned earlier, William Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran also contributed their perspectives to defining Kaizen.

Over time, this approach spread beyond Japan’s borders and was eventually adopted by other major industrial powers around the world.

Today, the Kaizen method is not only applied in the industrial field — continuous improvement has also made its way into education, corporate environments, and even personal development contexts.

The Kaizen method in business

The 5S methodology in business is based on Kaizen — or as it’s known in Europe, Lean Manufacturing. Its origins, however, trace back to the ideas of statistician W. Edwards Deming, who argued that every process is variable — and that the less variable it is, the higher the quality of the result.

To embrace the Kaizen method, it’s essential to eliminate complacency, identify customer needs, monitor the competition, and optimize time as much as possible. One pioneering company in applying this method to production was Toyota, the automotive giant that managed to lower costs without sacrificing quality by eliminating unnecessary processes, resources, and materials — everything non-essential to production was removed.

But beyond industry, focusing on corporate culture, the Kaizen method promotes the idea that all employees should grow both professionally and in achieving business objectives. This is done by following these steps:

1. Selecting small, measurable, short-term goals that help move closer to the final objective.
2. Building a strong team that’s united and aligned with the proposed goals.
3. Listening to input from all departments within the company, as it provides valuable insights from multiple perspectives on the same issue.
4. Analyzing key data relevant to the objectives to be achieved, using tools such as control charts, Pareto principles, scatter plots, histograms, and check sheets.
5. Establishing a countermeasure plan that can be implemented as quickly as possible.
6. Tracking and evaluating results and visualizing them graphically.
7. Documenting resolved issues so the process of continuous improvement can be verified and maintained.

We hope the Kaizen method has inspired you to start applying it to different areas of your life. If you’d like to learn more tips about professional and personal growth, keep a close eye on the Educa.Pro blog — we’ll be waiting for you!