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“I would tell young people to start where they are with what they have and that the secret of a big success is starting with a small success and dreaming bigger and bigger dreams…” – John Johnson

Kaizen is a Japanese word that is literally translated as “improvement” – nothing more, nothing less. However, given the common practice in Japan of labeling industrial or business improvement techniques with the simple word, “kaizen” has taken on a whole new meaning to the English-speaking world.

Essentially, kaizen has become descriptive of a business philosophy in which the model is to focus daily on small, incremental improvements in every facet of a business. Every individual, from the head of the organization to the worker bee, is responsible for their own kaizen. Over time, these incremental changes not only add up individually, but collectively they lead to compounding and exponential results in improvement.

While this is a great model for business (as has proved to be the case over and over again in Japan), I think it’s an even better framework that you can use to dramatically improve your life…Any of you who regularly read this blog know I am a big advocate of “celebrating the small successes.” No matter what your goal, if you keep your nose to the grindstone and consistently move forward, you can’t help but eventually reach your desired end-game. I realize this is a simplistic viewpoint and that life is anything but simplistic. But that doesn’t mean the statement is untrue.

I think the philosophy behind “kaizen” takes this idea one step further. Applied to your life, kaizen means you focus on improving every area of your life in small yet consistent ways. Over time, these small successes not only add up to make the sum greater than the parts, but the results begin to compound exponentially. What began as a determination to focus on small increments of change can actually lead to life breakthroughs that catapult and propel us forward towards our dreams.

We’re all looking for those breakthroughs that will spring us forward. We continue to cross our fingers hoping our big break is just around the corner. But all too often we sit and wait for circumstances to be right, for things to fall into place. We wait and agonize over external circumstances we have no control over yet minimize the importance of the actions we can take RIGHT NOW. We are essentially waiting to “get lucky.”

But there is no such thing as luck. Breathroughs may seem lucky but they are nothing more than when preparation meets opportunity. The philosophy of kaizen alludes to the idea that breakthroughs only come as a result of the compounding effects of consistent, incremental improvements in the different areas of our life. Through these small but daily changes, we put ourselves in the right position and what may seem like luck is nothing more than positioning ourselves in the right place at the right time.

So maybe we should stop hoping to get lucky. Maybe we should stop being the slugger who sits back waiting for just the right pitch with the hopes of maybe getting “lucky” enough to hit it over the fence (but most likely striking out). Instead, maybe we should dig in and get to work, take our hacks, foul a few off, and worry about putting the ball in play. Maybe we should stop waiting for pitches that may not come and do the best we can with what life gives us RIGHT NOW.

If we do that, eventually our pitch will come…and when it does, we’ll be ready for it.

Paul

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