Royane Real

An ancient Chinese proverb goes "A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step."

Kaizen is a way of upgrading yourself. To practice it, you begin with one tiny step, and go on from there. Kaizen means "improvement" in Japanese, and it can mean self-improvement for you.

There are five main points to the Kaizen framework:

A. Tidiness or Sieiri
B. Having things in order or Seiton
C. Being clean or seiso
D. A standard procedure for clean-up or seiketsu
E. Maintaining discipline or shitsuke

Stick with this frame work and you will be successful.

Anyone who has ever made a New Year's resolution and failed knows this: it's hard to make big changes. Those who succeed in achieving their goals will likely tell you that they did it because they made small changes over time. These small changes led to success because new habits were formed. Kaizen can help you with your personally and professionally

Anyone who has been successful in attaining an objective has probably done so by making minor and gradual modifications. Minor modifications produce results due to the formation of fresh habits. For instance, if your objective is to get organized around your house, you might begin by taking a few minutes each evening to sort through your mail and discard anything that's junk.

You can get real outcomes when you apply focused practice. Minor modifications made gradually really produce results. If you've ever resolved to make a change and fell short, you are aware of how difficult it is to succeed in making major transformations. For instance, if you want to de-clutter your house, you might begin simply by taking a few minutes daily to sort through your mail and throw out any junk mail at once.

Think of bad habits that you may have: perhaps you started eating that morning Danish and now have 30 extra pounds. Going on a crash diet is unlikely to help, but replacing that Danish with an apple, over time, will.

Let's look at some real life ways that Kaizen can help you in the workplace. Kaizen doesn't just talk about efficiency, for example; it makes efficiency happen. It reveals how small tasks, each accomplished in a just minutes, can add up to a major improvement. A few minutes to file stray papers, perhaps another moment to straighten files, another few to dust the surface, and a messy desk becomes presentable. It works with mental processes too, like learning a new computer program, or a new language. Break down a daunting task into a series of more manageable ones, and a job can be done with ease.

Ask the following questions of yourself:

In what ways do you wish to improve? Which standards do you desire to meet? And how will you know when your objective has been reached?

There is a riddle that goes: Which is the most ideal manner in which to consume a whole elephant? And the answer is very simple, just take one bite at a time. Make up your mind on what you take a bite on in order to reach your destination and achieve your objectives.

About the Author

Steve Wilheir is a project management consultant and expert in Kaizen. If you like the Kaizen concept, Learn more about What is Kaizen?

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