Reflection (Hansei) is the Noblest Teacher

By Jon Miller Published on October 30th, 2006

Hansei is a Japanese word meaning “reflection” as in reflecting on ideas or experiences in order to learn from successes or failures to improve oneself in the future. It is a key step in kaizen, both personal improvement and for process improvement activity in business.
Taiichi Ohno liked to say “Check is hansei”. The “check” step of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) is an opportunity to reflect and learn before the Act / Adjust step in the PDCA cycle.
The quote of the day is attributed to Confucius, that people come to wisdom in three ways:
“First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
“Experience is the best teacher” as the saying goes, but the superior student combines imitation and experience with hansei. Experience without hansei can result in the “bitter” repetition of the same lesson.

Jon Miller

Jon has dedicated his 25+ year career to the field of kaizen, continuous improvement, and lean management. Jon spent the first eighteen years of his life in Japan, then graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s in linguistics.

Yuriska
November 27, 2006 - 8:49 pm
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Is there any university or institute about hansei in japan?
Jon Miller
November 27, 2006 - 8:53 pm
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I would say almost certainly not. Perhaps a Buddhist university would teach this as part of the overall philosophy of life. It is not so much a business practice as a way of thinking about life and one’s place in the world.