The Japanese concept of kaizen encourages businesses to always be on the lookout for ways to enhance their methods and procedures. The notion is that your productivity and success will rise if you are always on the lookout for ways to enhance your routine, no matter how small those ways may be.
This is a brilliant idea that may be used in every industry and many other spheres of life. In the words of author Robin Sharma, “Small everyday improvements over time yield remarkable outcomes.”
The 7 kaizen concepts outlined below may be used immediately to enhance your professional, personal, and social life. You should always keep in mind that the devil is in the details. A little step forward can have a dramatic impact.
Get out there and do stuff!
In order to make progress, you must first desire to. If you are not eager to learn and grow, you will not experiment. The effect is that you’ll be stuck in a rut, and your progress will eventually plateau.
Every day, spend 5–10 minutes thinking about how to improve your workflow, organizational structure, workday, etc.
Nothing ever ends.
The second tenet of kaizen is that it is incessant. When you stop improving, you go backward. Although you may not enjoy it, such is life.
Your muscles will atrophy if you don’t use them. Neglecting your company will lead to falling profitability and eventually its demise.
If you don’t work to improve your processes, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
So, make kaizen a regular habit.
Simply put, get rid of the obstacles.
No matter how strongly you feel about a certain method, you should recognize that it is possible that it is no longer effective because of the passage of time. It’s important to be willing to kill the holy cows of your company if they become a liability.
Sometimes, implementing kaizen means getting rid of the things that are slowing down your business rather than adding new improvements. Don’t become too attached to anything, and be willing to accept change.
Try to cut back on expenses.
Always look for methods to save money. The more you expand, the more true this is. Commonly, bureaucratic hurdles prevent large corporations from cutting unnecessary expenditures.
Kaizen can help you uncover methods to cut both your constant and fluctuating expenses. You may improve your company’s financial standing by doing one of two things: either increasing profits or decreasing expenses. The second is typically less difficult.
Believe in your own abilities, but question everything.
Your company’s resources should all be put to good use. It’s easy to fall into a rut when you do the same things over and over again without giving any thought to why you’re doing them.
For instance, if you once spent hours upon hours, perhaps days upon days, crafting gorgeous sales pages for your internet business, you may still be doing so.
But perhaps your company is doing well enough financially that you can afford to have someone else create the site for you.
Then answer me this: Why are you doing it?
Kaizen will provoke the question, “Why?” You may have come to the conclusion that you would be better served by having a professional create your sales page. If you do this, you’ll have more time to focus on the sales copy, which is crucial to the success of your company.
Optimism is misplaced.
The term “kaizen” refers to a method of improvement via trial and error. When attempting to make enhancements, not all of them will succeed. This requires you to be prepared. It’s not uncommon for a plan to work well in theory but fall flat when put into action. Don’t bank on the success of every change you make.
Yet, never stop striving to get better.
When required, make corrections.
If the alterations don’t work, try not to take it personally. Eliminate them and revert to your previous procedures while you search for potential enhancements to the test. One day, you will discover a more efficient method of doing something.
For this reason, it’s preferable to effect gradual shifts over sudden revolutions. It will be less of a hassle to correct any mistakes made during the early stages of the transition. Small mistakes are better than large ones.
If you consistently apply these seven principles to your company, you will see it grow and flourish into a well-oiled cash cow. Having extra time on your hands as a result of your improved efficiency will also help you relax.
Kaizen is an awesome philosopher. It’s something you should live by forever.
Get going now!