Quick and Easy Kaizen-#4 Ewwww!

Quick and Easy Kaizen is an improvement that you can easily do for yourself that improves a process by improving quality, saving time, and so forth. The book, The Idea Generator, by Norm Bodek addresses quick and easy Kaizen and I have been practicing this technique at work for some time. Using the ideas from Norm's book, I have added improvements at home and here are some that have made my life better but didn't require that much time and effort to implement.

#4 Leaf roll up for dog poop.



Here's my bio-degradable feces quicker picker upper.

Our dog Alek is walked a couple times a day down our street. Until recently, I picked up the waste in plastic bags and discarded it in the trash but I never felt good about it. It seemed like a double waste.



Now, I can discard the nasty stuff in a big shrub area at the front of my driveway and behind my house and not worry about it. I found some trees with really big leaves so taking care of the dog waste is easy. The waste and the leaf will break down organically and nothing goes in the landfill.

Time to complete: 3o seconds to collect the leaf.

Cost: Free

Benefit: Reduce plastic use, no longer send animal waste to landfill.

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever

Kaizeneer

It's only natural...

Some people resist change no matter how small. At my work, someone recently relayed a conversation to me between two employees. Apparently, one worker apparently made the following statement to the other:

"Why do we have to improve things all the time?"

That's a good question. Why should we strive to improve things like saving money, eliminating wasted time, simplifying tasks, and reduce waiting time? Shouldn't we be satisfied with horse and buggy, whale oil lamps, wood burning stoves, and whiskey for anesthesia?

It's hard to believe a highly intelligent person would make such a silly statement. Even animals will improve their processes. Take a look at these kaizening critters...




This animal behavior goes to show that kaizen is an organic process. At least, if you use the higher parts of your brain.

Dan Lafever
Kaizeneer