- [Hiroshi Tsukagoshi, Chairman of [Ina Shokuhin Kogyo
- > The purpose of Kaizen at Toyota Motor Corporation is to increase productivity while reducing costs. While that is important, making the workplace more comfortable will motivate employees and result in higher productivity. Relatively speaking, costs will also go down.
- [http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/report/15/269655/082200032/?P=2](http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/report/15/269655/082200032/?P=2)

- It is interesting to contrast [[kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement)]] with [[comfortable]].
  • If the objective is to make a kaizen, there is a bias to choose small changes that are likely to succeed rather than large changes that may fail. On the other hand, if the approach is “what would be comfortable for me if things were the way they were? I guess you could say that this approach creates an environment that makes it easier to take on the challenge of big changes. - PRO Model

  • An example of how asking “what would make you comfortable?” can easily produce an ideal image of the future (Cybozu).

    • “I want to make this a company where people don’t quit. So, please be as selfish as you can think of.

    • “I don’t want to work overtime,” “I only want to work short hours,” “I only want to work three days a week,” and other specific needs kept coming up.

    • http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/report/15/269655/082200032/

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