Foster Kaizen Culture
Navigating Crisis and Change in Community
Like the sturdy hull of a boat, culture keeps leaders, teams and all their precious cargo afloat on the rivers of life. In calm waters, culture may go unnoticed and even be taken for granted. But when the waters of crisis and change start to surge, the buoyancy of your organizational culture will be tested.
Drawing on more than a half-century of professional, hands-on experience with organizational life, we believe every culture exists somewhere on a continuum between two polar opposites.
At its best, culture is life-giving. These healthy and dynamic cultures are marked by “kaizen,” a Japanese term meaning “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.” A kaizen culture helps people adapt, grow, and become stronger through crisis and change instead of capsizing under its pressures and disruptions.
At the other end of the continuum, culture can also be death-dealing. These unhealthy, toxic cultures leave people floundering, teams fractured, and organizations sinking into confusion, fear, and stagnation. A defining trait of these cultures is kaiaku, a Japanese term which means “change for the worse” and describes a downward pattern where crisis and change leads to decline and decay instead of growth and renewal.
The good news? Culture is simply the sum total of how a group of people behave. And because people can change their behaviors, this means cultures can change too.
We partner with leaders, teams, and organizations to deliver customized, scenario-specific solutions to create and sustain more kaizen cultures for navigating crisis and change.