kaizen
n.— «Kaizen is a Japanese term that means continuous improvement, taken from the words “kai,” meaning “change,” and “zen,” meaning “good.” The general translation is “change for the better.” In industry today, Kaizen connotes practicing innovative management methods. Japan has been sensitive about waste for decades due to the scarcity of land and raw materials. The philosophy of eliminating waste leading to profit through participative improvement is an integral part of the Japanese philosophy. The key aspect of Kaizen is an ongoing, never-ending continuous improvement process. It is a softer, more gradual methodology, versus the more “scrap and start anew” philosophy of the traditional western mindset.» —“Frame of mind” by Jim Limperis Manufacturer (U.S.) Nov., 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...