The Five Minute Guide to the Kaizen Approach to Improving Yourself
Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “improvement.” While this is the literal translation however, it actually contains a lot more meaning than that when used in a number of contexts.
Kaizen as a concept was popularized by the manufacturing industry. Here, the focus was on looking at how very small changes in the assembly line could result in massive improvements in efficiency and output.
Imagine for example that you found a way to speed up a machine that placed screws by 2%. It might not sound like much, but when you are inserting hundreds of thousands of screws daily, it adds up to a huge difference!
This concept quickly became popular among other circles. In particular, it found popularity with the business crowd, and with selfimprovement gurus.
The claim? That by changing just a few very small things in your life, you could add up to huge change. Thus were born countless articles claiming that the best way to get into shape was with “micro workouts.” By exercising just five minutes a day to form new habits.
Only this was actually missing the point somewhat. The point of kaizen isn’t just to change little things and see the cumulative effect. It’s about looking at processes and flows, and finding ways to remove waste and improve efficiency.
While there is some truth in the notion that starting a big exercise program is a mistake and that doing something smaller can often lead to better results, that’s only part of the story. Understanding what kaizen truly means allows you to take even more benefit from it and to enact transformative change in your life.
