Fujifilm’s Frequent Firmware Updates and the Philosophy of Kaizen
The Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, literally “change good,” is at the heart of many a successful company. It represents a dedication to constant change for the better, and is famously used by Toyota on their assembly lines, where employees are encouraged to point out issues and suggest improvements.
But car companies aren’t the only ones that employ the idea of Kaizen; the philosophy may also be at the heart of Fujifilm’s habit of constantly improving its cameras with firmware updates.
Fuji’s frequent updates, on the other hand, point to another approach — that of Kaizen.
The idea is that Fuji releases these updates so often because they strive for constant improvement in their cameras even after they’ve gotten them in your hands. Every company (well maybe not all of them…) strives to improve with each generation, but Fuji isn’t scared to improve in-between — “It was ‘right,’ now it’s ‘more right.’”
Kaizen is an overarching philosophy/approach, and confining its definition to a few paragraphs or the specific habit of updating firmware regularly may be a stretch. But Fujifilm’s determination to change their cameras for the better, rather than leaving it to others to discover hidden capabilities, is at the very least a quality of Fujifilm’s approach that its customers should greatly appreciate.
Fujifilm, X-Series firmware and the idea of Kaizen [Fujifilm X-Series Thoughts via Fuji Rumors]
Image credit: Photo illustration based on fujifilm by jmettraux
