San Gen Shugi - Toyotas first philosophy

There are a lot of talk of Kaizen or continuous improvement adopting the Toyota philosophy. But
at TOYOTA, everybody will tell that this is wrong. The first TOYOTA philosophy that must be
adopted is the philosophy of the 3 reals (Gen San Shugi)

Gemba: (The place, the actual location, the real location): Go to the workplace or the actual
work area and chat with real actors.

Genjitsu: (Action, the real fact): Judging and quantified using real data and the reality of your
business based on the activities, existing methods or processes.

Genbutsu: (The real product or service): View the actual product or service provided, with a
focus on the customer internal or external requirements.

Before thinking to KAIZEN, the SAN GEN SHUGI is needed to practice in the enterprise in real
time with real people. Identify these best practices, standardize them and use them wherever
there is a need. By doing this exercise, you also will score a lot of points with your employees or
team members. They will feel valued and now part of the changes. Too often we are imposing
them new methods of reform, new practices without even considering the good things they are
doing now. The KAIZEN comes next, identifying the processes or tasks (products or services) to
improve.

Applying SAN GEN SHUGI Shugi takes more effort but is much rewarding for the employees.