I n January 1989, we at Boardroom Inc. modestly launched a business system that produced results far beyond its original goal -- the goal of continuous improvement. It actually set the company on a path of explosive growth.

The system is called I-Power. We realized after the program was up and running that it closely resembled the Japanese system of Kaizen -- a word that means continuous improvement.

Ironically, Kaizen is an American invention. It was started in the late 1800s at Kodak. Management guru W. Edwards Deming fine-tuned the technique and introduced it to Japan in the 1950s. By the 1960s, Kaizen was a dominant force in Japanese business development.

Impact: With the help of Kaizen, Japan went on to dominate the world automobile market... the consumer electronics market... robotics, etc.

AMERICA'S WEAKNESS

In America, there is no universal business system like Kaizen. The complex Deming system never caught on here.

The best candidate to fill that void is I-Power. The word about I-Power has gotten out -- and more and more companies have discovered the wonders of it. The system helped Boardroom Inc. grow from a $25 million a year business to a $100 million business in just five years!

Over the next several months, we will be reporting on some of the many ways that I-Power has benefited a variety of companies. We believe that these reports will inspire companies that lack an effective program to begin developing one.

HOW IT WORKS...

One reason I-Power has become so popular is that it is so simple. Just follow these instructions...

Begin by setting up I-Power teams that meet once a week to share ideas. Teams of five to 10 are best, though groups of as many as 20 still work well. The teams can be made up of people from a particular department... or different departments.

The team sets a specific theme for the ideas it will review in a given week. General themes that have worked for us for years are...

What can I do to be even more effective?

What can my department do to be more effective?

What can the company do to be more effective?

Each idea is rated by group consensus and the rating is recorded by the idea's originator. Ratings are:

A for a great idea... worth $10 to the originator.

B for a good, but not great, idea... worth $5.

Alternate incentive: A department at Ford Motor couldn't use financial rewards -- so it used a stuffed animal. The person with the best idea each week got a "Dogbert" to perch on his/her computer.

Once all of the company's rated ideas for the month are submitted to the I-Power Coordinator, they are reviewed, collated and published in a memo distributed to each employee.

I-Power rewards ideas whether or not they're implemented. It is the responsibility of the originator -- and team -- to see that an idea is carried out. And -- we find that people implement the ideas that make the most sense without the company's bosses having to push for those improvements to happen.

WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED...

Boardroom Inc.'s explosive growth was accomplished with fewer than 80 employees... more than $1 million per worker. Few, if any, of our country's 500 leading companies do more than $300,000 in annual sales per person.

But that is not the full extent of I-Power's success. The program has also promoted phenomenal teamwork throughout the company, along with an upbeat and energetic spirit.

I-Power has also boosted the pace of individual improvement. Everyone at Boardroom Inc. plays a decisive role in the company's growth and development.

I-Power has helped everyone realize his/her own untapped potential -- to enhance his contribution to the company as a whole beyond what he normally would think possible.

This has resulted in extremely low turnover -- just about zero in most years... very low absenteeism... high productivity... boundless creativity... and, of course, better pay and benefits for everyone.

In addition, I-Power has served as a powerful force for conflict resolution. Whenever one of our few major disagreements occurs, we ask each of the individuals involved to give his manager a list of ways in which his opponent can make working together better... as well as how he can contribute to smoother communication. Then the manager edits those thoughts -- meeting with each separately... and the problems disappear.

Getting their ideas down on paper almost always results in finding solutions to the problem.

I-POWER IDEAS: SOME EXAMPLES...

Renegotiate the office lease before it expires. Result: Savings of $125,000 over two years.

Outsource printing of promotional letters... instead of taking bids each time. Result: Frees up $500,000 per year of paper inventory and saves $275,000 per year on letter paper.

Instruct lettershops to send mailings directly to bulk mailing centers. Result: Postal savings of $125,000 per year.

Switch computer programs to speed up freelancer manuscript conversion. Result: Saves 50 hours a week of editors' and typesetters' time.