Layan Damanhouri
Saudi Gazette
Kaizen, a Japanese concept developed in the 1980s to reach higher levels of productivity, started in the manufacturing industry of Toyota and is now transferring from the office halls to the daily lives of individuals.
Senior general manager at Abdullatif Jameel, a distributor company of Toyota in Saudi Arabia, Saleh Al-Sulami aims to spread kaizen, the concept of continuous improvement, to society’s youth.
“It’s a way of life,” he said, when asked about its methodology. “Kaizen can help achieve any goal in all aspects of one’s life whether to increase productivity, boost efficiency, managing finances, or even learning a new skill.”
“The youth are often the most enthusiastic about change and ready to tackle challenges. Most people, however prefer to stay in their comfort zone to avoid facing difficulties when embarking on change,” says the founder of Kaizenhaa, a Saudi initiative of applying kaizen to youth volunteer groups to encourage them to deliver better results.
With over 10,000 of volunteer hours, Al-Sulami says the nation-wide project has reached out to volunteer groups around the Kingdom to spread awareness of the importance of change through free workshops, building young leaders as role models, and promoting volunteer groups in the community.
When asked about the challenges young Saudis face, Al-Sulami says a lot of them don’t have a life purpose or a dream, simply holding on to ambiguous wishes. “This is one of the issues we face when trying to encourage people to change because without motivation, it’s not possible.”
The reason for this is partly due to their social upbringing of receiving instead of giving back. “For example, young people are expecting to find a job ready for them once they graduate but they need to be proactive and have something to offer first.”
Kaizenhaa helps volunteers maximize their productivity as efficiently as possible by identifying an obstacle and trying to overcome it in a resourceful manner.
A lot of the groups and associations lack publicity, according to Al-Sulami. “The media is an important tool to grow by having their work recognized and inspire others in different regions of the Kingdom.”
Another factor that helps in motivation is having young leaders serving as role models to the community. “It’s more effective to have leading individuals within their own circles appeal to young people.”
“To change anything to the better, the key is to be gradual and continuous,” he added.
A typical scenario for a person setting a goal is to start off strongly and failing to complete the project. “According to a market research study, around 60 percent of gym subscriptions are unused because those who sign up change their routines suddenly and end up discontinuing within two weeks.”
This applies to other areas of life where people don’t succeed in achieving their goals due to lack of continuous progress.
Change needs baby steps but in a steady pace, he added.
When asked why he chose to focus on volunteer groups, he said that volunteering is an essential element that needs to be applied in everyone’s daily lives. “People are used to receiving but developing one’s need to give back will result in a balance,” he said.
“If we don’t invest in the energy and time of our youth, they will put their energy in outlets like extremist groups or soccer fanaticism.”
