5 Steps to Leading the Kaizen Way
Leading the Kaizen way: I first heard the word Kaizen in high school, but the concept originated in post-WWII Japan during the 1940s as manufacturers sought to rebuild and improve production. Kaizen, loosely translated into English, means “change for the better” or, more formally, “continuous improvement.” While the term has been a staple in business and academic circles for decades, it perfectly describes the journey of churches embarking on revitalization, developing robust discipleship programs, and reaching new people for Christ. Whatever the need, the Kaizen philosophy offers a framework to redeem what may seem broken or hopeless.
In a ministry landscape often seeking quick fixes for declining metrics, local church leadership can utilize the Kaizen method to identify, analyze, create, evaluate, and celebrate organizational systems—including programs, positions, and partnerships—for continuous improvement. By adopting this mindset, leaders can rebound and redefine how the local church ministers to its community in the future.
Step 1: Identify the problem for improvement.
There are seasons in a church’s life when a leader might feel overwhelmed and ask, “What am I doing wrong?” By identifying specific areas for improvement, you name the issue publicly so that the congregation can collaborate on solutions that move the mission forward. Leading the local church can be lonely, but it should not be. The core of continuous improvement is built on the principle that everyone has a voice. This approach empowers everyone, from the pastor to the person in the pew, to contribute a positive vision toward turning around the local church.
As you begin the Kaizen process, identify one main issue that the team wants to address. Once that is agreed upon, begin to see the positives and negatives of the current program, position or partnership by deciding where the church wants to improve. Think about it this way: Is it eliminating a program, providing more resources to an area, fixing up a new space, etc.? As the team identifies the problem, they will dream of the future.
Step 2: Analyze the current situation for quality.
The team now seeks improvement by analyzing the current issue and looking for hidden gems that might have been overlooked or are worth saving as part of the new plan through a creative idea lab. The team should take their time exploring the next steps in the idea lab, where everyone can share their thoughts and then narrow them down, zeroing in on the next steps. Rushing into the situation without truly analyzing all facets of the issue will cause more heartache. So slow down, do the work, and seek the gems amid the muck.
This step focuses on developing quality, not quantity. What resources does the team need to improve or fix the problem? What does that look like regarding the budget and the people who might be a part of the turnaround? Identifying by focusing on quality is a complex but necessary step. Do not skip over this, thinking your team is more innovative than the church down the street. The foundational work done in this step will help the church revamp and improve for a new generation of believers.
Step 3: Create opportunities or systems through new solutions.
The team is now ready to develop a step-by-step action plan to renew the struggling area. Identifying to dreaming is an exciting part of the renewal process. The team gets to move the turnaround plan from the idea lab (behind-the-scenes conversations) into a safe incubator (front-facing), which can be tweaked over time as the church adjusts to the new reality. Setting a timeframe for the new program, partnership or redesigned position to be reviewed will help keep the team focused on the original premise, which was continuous improvement.
Allow the creativity of the safety of an idea lab to tinker with a program, position or partnership to help make it better for the future, not just now. Dreaming and then adapting those dreams to fit the current realities and resources will help keep a forward-leaning posture for the church and will be seen as doable for all involved. By creating healthy wins, the team will create forward momentum to share that change is better when done together.
Step 4: Evaluate the effectiveness of the improvement.
There is a tendency to rest once the heavy lifting has been accomplished, but to improve the church must constantly refocus on quality. Change takes a lot out of a leader, but change was not the focus; Kaizen was, which is continuous improvement. The improvement cycle continues not when the plan is born but when tweaked repeatedly to make it the best action plan possible for the church.
Begin within the first month of implementation to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvement. Be bold about questioning what is working and what is not working. It is easier to adapt a new program to a new reality than an old one with an old reality mindset.
If the team notices that something is not working, stop it, change it or keep evaluating it for a period of time. Do not allow the team to be lulled into a false sense of complacency. Keep pressing, asking questions, reviewing, adapting and then relaunch if you have to, but in all ways, keep improving the product.
Step 5: Celebrate the improvement but continue to review.
Celebrate the win. Celebrate that diverse thinkers came together to acknowledge a problem, reviewed the situation honestly, designed new systems, tinkered with the plan, and birthed it through practical learning and sharing. That, my friends, is a win for the ages. The idea behind Kaizen was to never stop improving, and with this five-step plan, the local church can continue to achieve new heights over time. While this may have been a business and academic model, the Kaizen model fits nicely into the local church if the leadership team is willing to share power, trust the people, work the process, and never settle for comfort.
Comfort is the enemy of the church, and Kaizen opposes it. The Kaizen cycle constantly looks forward to seeing how the program, position or partnership could be improved even more over time. If your church is stagnant or struggling to reach the community, using the Kaizen model could help restructure the church to live out the mission to win others to Christ.
