This year marks 30 years since I was first introduced to Kaizen — a simple idea that turned into a lifelong pursuit.

Back in the mid-1990s, I had my first real exposure to what we then called the Toyota Production System. It was a formative experience, and I captured some of those early impressions in this post from the archives.

What struck me then — and still inspires me now — wasn’t the tools or the jargon. It was the way people thought about work and improvement. The belief that everyone, every day, can make things a little better. That progress is built from respect, teamwork, and curiosity.

From the factory floor to every sector

Over the past three decades, I’ve seen Kaizen thinking travel far beyond its manufacturing roots.

I’ve worked with large and small businesses, charities, councils, and environmental projects, and the same principles hold true everywhere:

• In a workshop improving production flow.
• In a community organisation aligning purpose with practice.
• In a sustainability initiative finding smarter, leaner ways to reduce waste and carbon.

Kaizen’s power lies in its adaptability — it’s not about the setting, it’s about the mindset.

Three timeless lessons from 30 years of practice

1. Respect always comes first.
   Improvement isn’t something done to people; it’s something that happens through people. Culture beats tools, every time.
2. Start small, stay steady.
   Every lasting transformation begins with a first step — one conversation, one experiment, one problem solved properly.
3. Purpose gives improvement meaning.
   When teams connect improvement to something bigger — community impact, environmental care, customer value — the results go deeper and last longer.

From Lean to Enterprise Excellence

In 2025, I’m proud to be marking this milestone while joining the Enterprise Excellence Group — a network of practitioners dedicated to advancing continuous improvement across Australasia.

This new chapter feels like a natural evolution of my Kaizen journey:

• From Lean tools to holistic excellence frameworks.
• From isolated improvement projects to sustainable cultural transformation.
• From operations efficiency to purpose-driven enterprise performance.

It’s also a chance to share what I’ve learned — and keep learning — alongside a community of people who care deeply about making organisations, and society, better.

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Looking ahead

Thirty years on, Kaizen still feels new to me. Every team, every challenge, every breakthrough reminds me why I started: to help people unlock their own potential to improve.

As I refresh Lean Tomatoes for this next phase, I’ll be writing more about:

• Lean and enterprise excellence in New Zealand and Australia
• Continuous improvement for mission-driven and community organisations
• Sustainability and “Lean for Green” initiatives
• Practical tools and stories from the field

If that sounds interesting, I invite you to follow along here or reach out directly at richard.steel@richardsteel.co.nz.

Here’s to the next chapter — and to keeping the Kaizen spirit alive in everything we do.