The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen [Paperback]

Norman Bodek (Author), Bunji Tozawa (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0971243697 | ISBN-13: 978-0971243699 | Publication Date: August 5, 2001

The goal of this book is to guide improvement activities throughout the organization: to use creative ideas from all employees to serve both internal and external customers, to unlock the hidden potential of every single employee, and to bring new excitement and joy into the workplace. Dana Corporation gets over 2,000,000 ideas a year from all of their employees. This book tells you how to do it.

"WHAT SETS US APART? The Toyota Production System is at the heart of everything we do. Based on the concept of continuous improvement, or kaizen, every Toyota team member is empowered with the ability to improve their work environment. This includes everything from quality and safety to the environment and productivity. Improvements and suggestions by team members are the cornerstone of Toyota's success."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In starting a new publishing company, PCS Press, I wanted to find a books that would improve both customer service and the quality of work life for the average worker. As the former president of Productivity Press I discovered and published the works of many Japanese geniuses including Dr. Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno co-creators of JIT or Lean management. American companies are becoming lean but they are also missing a vital ingredient to corporate competitiveness - the need to get all employees truly involved in serving their customers and in improvement activities. And people are only involved when they come up with a creative idea and install it themselves.

Just imagine the competitive edge that Dana gets from receiving on the average 24 written improvement ideas per employee per year. That is 2,000,000 improvement ideas a year from all of their employees.

Just imagine how the employee feels when they come up with an improvement idea and installs the idea on their own? People then feel empowered, involved and a have new sense about them selves. It is a great feeling!

I am indebted to Bunji Tozawa to be his co-author and publisher and to offer to America and the western world a methodology that has proven so successful in the Far East.

From the Inside Flap

Testimonials to The Idea Generator

Management by simplicity is the goal of all companies being strangled by complexity. Get back to basics. These principles are universal. Buy and read this book. It is hot. In fact, it is great! -- Greg Hutchins author of ISO9000: A Comprehensive Guide, Do I.T. and Working It.

I like it!! Anywhere you open it, you find a quick read, a concrete management lesson, and the main point of the whole book comes through........".Keep it Simple!" The pictures are very effective in communicating thoughts rapidly. Congratulations - Dr. Min Basadur, professor McMaster University and author of Simplex a Flight to Creativity

The Idea Generator" brings continuous improvement down to Earth--and raises up to the heavens the importance of everybody documenting every implemented idea, however small. It's a message too few understand. - Richard J. Schonberger, President Schonberger & Associates, Inc. and author of Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity, The World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied and World Class Manufacturing: The Next Decade: Building Power, Strength, and Value

"Two process improvement system pioneers have combined their wisdom and experience into a practical handbook. This easy-to-read manual can be used at any level to improve processes, rethink structure and change policy. Every supervisor and manager should have a copy and use it every day." - Dr. Jac Fitz-enz, Founder & Chairman Saratoga Institute and author of The ROI of Human Capital : Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance, A New Vision for Human Resources : Defining the Human Resources Function by Its Results and The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies : How Great Organizations Make the Most of Their Human Assets

I have searched for a book that would relate Japanese management to American management techniques from not only theory but to the practical view, ie; Here is how it is done. Many thanks for finally providing the American student the chance to become familiar with Kaizen. - Professor Irvin Otis, Central Michigan University and former director IE Chrysler Corp.

Much of what we have focused on in learning from Toyota is fundamental transformation to lean manufacturing. Value stream mapping provides the vision for material and information flow. Tozawa and Bodek remind us that this is only the first step. Lean systems will degrade without ongoing improvement from every employee through a myriad of simple, quick changes. What brings lean structures to life is people—people engaged in continuous improvement. Tozawa and Bodek provide deep insights into this fundamental ingredient of high performance companies. - Prof. Jeffrey K. Liker, University of Michigan and author of Becoming Lean.

It's a book targeted for success. - William Christopher author of Handbook for Productivity Measurement and Improvement.

In down times, having an idea program will make the difference. It creates a competitive advantage. - Gary Corrigan, VP Corporate Communications, Dana Corporation

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Product Details

• Paperback: 375 pages
• Publisher: P C S Pr (August 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971243697
• ISBN-13: 978-0971243699
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Pamphlets Worth of Important Ideas Spread over 396 Below-Par Pages, July 1, 2007

By 

Digby Christian (San Francisco Bay Area, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen (Paperback)

This book contains important ideas that if implemented well can change the atmosphere of the workplace and reap significant beneficial changes. However, it is a rather poorly organized, repetitive, poorly written book. So if $45 is chump change that you're going to expense to your company anyway, buy it. If $45 is a lot of money, then don't. Go read what's available at Google's book section and you'll know 80% of what the book contains.

Basically I give it 3 stars. An average of 5 stars for the idea. 1 star for the book.

The basic idea is this:
* The best people to ask about how to improve how work gets done are the people who do the work not the people they report to.
* If you can create an environment that allows people to feel that offering ways they can improve their own method of working without fear of being seen as a critic, heretic or fool you will get a lot of creative input.
* Impose the constraint the the change must be something that the person can do themselves, to improve their own way of working.
* Make it clear that it's okay if the change does not work as expected.
* Make it clear that we learn more from analyzing why something did not work than we do from analyzing why something did work.
* Encourage people to try something else if the first suggestion does not work.
* Encourage people to write down their suggestions.
* Implement a system that reviews and says yes/no to the suggestion within one working day of it being written and submitted.
* Keep all the suggestions and their effects in a location where everyone can see them and learn from both the items that worked and did not work.

Honestly that's pretty much it. But the fact that it's a simple, easy concept to describe doesn't mean it's a simple, easy thing to implement. You're really talking about instigating a fundamental change in the work culture.

Nearly all companies do not work like this. Most companies pay lip service to the intellectual capital of their staff. This is a line cribbed from another location but in essence what is being said is "Every Pair of Hands comes with a Free Brain". Treat your people with empathy and respect and you will nearly always be surprised at how well people respond - it's amazing but they might even start treating you with empathy and respect as a result - how about that?

Footnote: "The Toyota Way" is the one book on this whole area of revolutionizing the workspace that I heartily recommend. It's a entirely different way of working, and "Kaizen" is just one part.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guidebook for Improving Organization Performance, September 5, 2001

By 

"billthemc" (Walnut Creek, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen (Paperback)

In any organization, all of us are smarter than any of us. Here is a book about all of us. Wisdom resides not only in senior-level people, but widely throughout the organization. How can organizations draw on the huge amount of knowledge, experience, and wisdom of everyone in the organization and apply this capability to continuously improve organization performance? The Idea Generator; Quick and East Kaizen, by Bunji Tozawa and Norman Bodek describes how, with examples from American companies that use these methods. The book draws on experience in Japan and in the United States to show how everyone in the organization can be involved in improving the way work is done, and achieving organization success. While the concepts and methods presented in this book are not yet in widespread use, they're growing. The book cites company experience showing how they create competitive advantage, and a motivated, high-morale organization. I highly recommend this book for everyone concerned with participation, motivation, and world-class operations.

William F. Christopher
Company Executive
Author, Award-Winning Business Books
Fellow, World Academy of Productivity Science

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A profound approach to empowering your employees, December 22, 2004

By 

Mark S. Edmondson (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen (Paperback)

The Quick and Easy Kaizen system recognizes that every worker has hidden creative talent locked inside of them. Toyota successfully harnesses employee innovation, with over 1.5 million employee suggestions implemented each year. This represents about $300 million in annual savings that go straight to the bottom line. In his book, Norman Bodek discusses how the Quick and Easy Kaizen system becomes a powerful tool for bringing forth numerous small but significant improvement ideas from all employees.

A cultural transformation powered by employee commitment to continuous improvement is critical to your lean journey. Our clients have found Mr. Bodek to be an inspiring and effective resource, providing the experience, inspiration, and tools for a cultural transformation to continuous improvement. In addition to being a LEAN Affiliate, Mr. Bodek is the founder of Productivity Inc. / Productivity Press and has published over 400 books including 100 Japanese books in English. In 1988 he initiated the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence.

Mark Edmondson
President
www.LEANaffiliates.com