kaizen

noun

kai·​zen ˈkī-ˌzen 

: a Japanese business concept of continuous improvement that involves the practice of making incremental consistent changes in order to achieve significant positive results (as in productivity or performance) over time

In companies that implement kaizen, workers look continuously for small improvements that can be implemented immediately.

—Sarah Manguso

At its core, kaizen is a management system based on a set of values that is intended to improve employee and company performance. The system encourages individual and group effort to identify and fix problems, with the goal of making constant improvements in the organization and its products.

—Ken Schachter

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Japanese, literally, "betterment, improvement," from kai- "change, modify" + zen "good, goodness"

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above