Kaizen is a combination of two Japanese words, 改 (“kai”) which means “change” and 善 (“zen”) which means “for better”. Put together, Kaizen indicates “change for better”. It has been translated universally as “continuous improvement”. It signifies the possibility of change through slow, incremental constant steps, creating powerful quality improvements in business and manufacturing processes. Having been trained in management and quality engineering, I used Kaizen in my former corporate life.
Kaizen’s concepts are real simple, yet it takes discipline, consistency and determination to be able to adapt them in our personal life.
They can be summarized as follows:
- Make changes through small improvements that are easier to stick with
- Eliminate waste
- Monitor results and adjust, as appropriate
- Standardize best practices
- Reward accomplishments
You probably have been doing #1 – break the change (or goal) into simple steps. However, it does not stop there. We have to be committed to move forward to the next step until we finally achieve our goal or the change we want. On the road to our goal, we need to check our progress, discard the unnecessary, repeat our steps (standardize) and finally give ourselves a reward at the end of each finished step. The reward does not have to be expensive. Usually, if people are motivated because of the expensive reward, the motivation disappears after they receive the reward. Small rewards, even patting yourself on the back, are more effective motivators to push yourself forward.