Definition
Despite Lean Software Development’s focus on incremental improvement, it also recognizes the importance of drastic, radical step in some instances. This is known as Kaikaku. It is a revolutionary change to an existing system. In Software Development terms, it leads to the upgrade of an application currently in use from a release level to the next release level. This means a big change for both the development team and the user community.
Origin
Is a Japanese word. Kaikaku stands for ‘Radical change’ in a business or organization. Which makes it the polar opposite of Kaizen, which stands for incremental growth.
Further Reading
- “Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean : a Study in Knowledge Transfer”(book), by Norman Bodek