Having managed operations environments I was naturally interested in how to make everything more efficient and effective. Early on I adopted Japanese concept of Kaizen which speaks to continuous improvement by making small changes on an ongoing basis.
This concept, made popular by Toyota in improving their manufacturing operations, is well understood and used in business today. Some refer to the Plan Do Review cycle, that prompt us to ask what we could do smarter or better.
I think the benefit of this approach lies in making small changes on an ongoing basis. Small changes should be easy enough to pick up, turn around and implement. Repeating the cycle of making small changes is what grows impact of change over time. More importantly this way of thinking and working results in continuous improvement being built into the culture and work ethic – one way teams can grow a healthy internal rate of change to be relevant and sustainable.
I think in the same way that Kaizen is applied to business outcomes, it can be turned inward and applied to our self-improvement. Understanding the concept in business application makes it easy to apply the concept to one-self and enjoy the same benefits businesses do.
It is helpful to think of our self-improvement as an ongoing journey that is part of daily life rather than something we put off by placing it on a list that you plan to do. As James Clear points out small changes don’t add up they compound into remarkable results.
Coaching is an invitation to invest in yourself and the grow the capability for ongoing self-improvement.