Comments on: Kaizen | A Business Model or a Way of Life?

By: Mary Ann Pine

Mary Ann Pine — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:33:43 +0000

This is a great post. I find my clients continuously become overwhelmed because they look at the whole project and do not know where to begin. By breaking it down into small priority steps, they get so much more done.

Of course, this makes for a feeling of being successful.

Here is a post which talks about how to overcome being overwhelmed.
http://tinyurl.com/ydeo5gn

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:12:13 +0000

Kaizen has so many different applications. I have to admit, I’ve barely scratched the surface of applying the philosophy to make improvements in your life. But just the little I have been focusing on has had a profound impact.

Thanks for the added idea of eliminating the waste – good addition!
Paul ´s last blog ..Man vs. Debt Guest Post

By: LeanLifeCoach

LeanLifeCoach — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:18:18 +0000

Just found you through MvD…

Great site!

This post screamed at me… I’ve been blogging on these concepts in life for the past several months and applying them to my own life for over a decade.

Kaizen is powerful! But there is so much more. Kaizen was made famous by Toyota and their approach towards management, but it is just one small piece. As noted above, standardization is also key. But wait, there’s more!

You cannot forget the elimination of muda (waste). By eliminating the wasteful activities and expenses through Kaizen you are able to accomplish more, earn more, save more and live more!

If you want to learn more, check out…
LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..Are Debit Cards Secure – Debit Or Credit?

By: Paul Norwine

Paul Norwine — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:22:41 +0000

Hey David – thanks for the words of encouragement. It inspires me when I’m able to write something that connects with and potentially helps other people “blaze their own path.”

But you already know all about that – I swung by your blog and it looks like you not only have a great story but are doing very well. Talk to you soon!

Paul
Paul Norwine´s last blog ..Maintaining Momentum When You Have No Motivation

By: Paul Norwine

Paul Norwine — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:17:05 +0000

City Sylvester – what’s going on, man? Thanks for swinging by and dropping the comment. I think you hit on a key distinction that I failed to elaborate on which is the process of replacing bad habits with empowering ones. Thanks for helping me out with that! Talk to you soon…Paul
Paul Norwine´s last blog ..Maintaining Momentum When You Have No Motivation

By: Paul Norwine

Paul Norwine — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:15:20 +0000

What’s up, Daniel? I swung by your site and had a chance to read your post – you hit the nail on the head with kaizen. I’m glad it’s not just me who resonates with the idea of applying kaizen to every day life. It’s such a simple philosophy but truly has the power to dramatically improve your life…Paul
Paul Norwine´s last blog ..Maintaining Momentum When You Have No Motivation

By: Paul Norwine

Paul Norwine — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:07:50 +0000

Hi Danie – “in personal life it means forming good positive habits (standards)to get consistency and chase the incremental improvements.”

Very key distinction that ties it all together and makes the process of “kaizen” that much more applicable to daily living. I’m glad you were able to stumble by this post and thank you for your comment.

Please stop by anytime – I would like to hear more of your thoughts on how we can “practically” apply the ideas of kaizen to focus on improving our current situations. Take care…Paul
Paul Norwine´s last blog ..Maintaining Momentum When You Have No Motivation

By: David Wood

David Wood — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:43:21 +0000

Paul,

Man awesome, awesome post. I’m going to be back here keeping up with what you’re doing man. Love it.

David Wood
David Wood´s last blog ..An Exclusive Q&A With Mark Yarnell, a Network Marketing Legend

By: city sylvester

city sylvester — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:55:03 +0000

Hey Paul.
Great Post! The power of small changes. I thought about this a while back and started replacing small bad habits with small good ones. The process has left me with these out of the world positive results. Thanks for sharing this.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:00:02 +0000

Heya Paul, I share the same thoughts on Kaizen doubling as a life philosophy with you. Kinda like a system that I use for doing tasks and stuff. There's a post that I've written which covers all that, and including the 7 keys in applying Kaizen: http://thedanielrichard.com/2009/08/whats-next-after-recovering-from-a-massive-failure-discovering-kaizen/ Keep up the awesome work! @Daniel_Richard .-= Daniel´s last blog ..The Simplicity Artist Survey 2009 =-.

By: Danie Vermeulen

Danie Vermeulen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:39:45 +0000

Hi Paul
Great post. We see many applications of the Kaizen … also in personal life.

A key part of the Kaizen philosophy is the concept of standardisation – without fixing a standard (best) way to do a task it is basically impossible to achieve sustainable continuous improvement or to maintain that incremental improvements from a solid foundadtion.
So in personal life it means forming good positive habits (standards)to get consistency and chase the incremental improvements.

Keep up the good work.
Danie Vermeulen
CEO KAizen Institute New Zealand

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:36:24 +0000

Hi Martin – thanks for the comment. It’s a pretty remarkable philosophy if you ask me. Thanks for stopping by!

Paul

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:35:39 +0000

Hi Dave – you make a valid point. But I’m coming at it from an angle of how to effectively improve certain areas of your life gradually as opposed to stressing over the big picture “how.”

For me, focusing on small improvements / successes consistently is a way for me to (1) build momentum, (2) track progress, (3) chunk it down so as not to be overwhelming and (4) continue moving forward with the hope that these small actions will compound over time.

Hope that helps clarify

Paul

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:32:44 +0000

Great post. I was familiar with Kaizen in business, but had never thought to make the leap to using the principle for my personal life. Thanks!

By: Dave - LifeExcursion

Dave - LifeExcursion — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:58:34 +0000

The big factor here Paul is that it comes from a highly productive and loyal culture. I think that idea is awesome, but I also think that the suicide rates in many asian cultures are so high because the culture looks down on you for going after other opportunities and not committing all you have to a company you are supposed to.

In the end, the premise is awesome for a small business in my eyes. But in huge companies, it is extremely rare to have a company notice and/or share the success with the ‘worker bee’ unfortunately.

Just my take….

Dave Damron
LifeExcursion
Dave – LifeExcursion´s last blog ..CRUSH IT! : Why Now Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion