Hansei: the art of self-reflection

Hansei (反省) is a Japanese concept that stands for deep self-reflection. It is a crucial part of the Lean and the Toyota way of working, focused on continuous improvement of processes and personal skills. Unlike Western analysis that often focuses on assigning blame, Hansei focuses on acknowledging one's mistakes and looking for ways to avoid them in the future.

How does Hansei work?

Within organizations, Hansei is often applied at the end of a project or after reaching a major milestone. These reflection meetings have a structured approach:

1. Identify problems: The team critically analyzes what has happened and what problems have surfaced.
2. Finding causes: One reflects on the root causes of the problems, focusing on the system and methods, not the individuals.
3. Formulate countermeasures: Based on the insights, concrete action plans are formulated to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
4. Knowledge sharing: Lessons learned and improvements are shared with the rest of the organization, contributing to a culture of collective learning.

Hansei, along with Kaizen (continuous improvement) and standardized work, forms the basis of the learning organization. It is often compared to the "Check" phase in the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, where you evaluate the results of an action.

Ongoing self-reflection makes the organization more resilient, agile and capable of delivering quality.