The Japanese art high performers use to improve.
Kaizen comes from two Japanese words:
‘kai’ meaning ‘change’ and ‘zen’ meaning ‘good.’
Kaizen means making small changes for the better.
Use it for:
↳ Personal habits
↳ Work processes
↳ Teams and organizations
It’s what Toyota’s top leaders swear by:
↳ The power of 1% daily improvements
↳ That compounds into massive results
7 Steps High Performers Use To Compound Improvement:
1/ Standardize Your Process
↳ Map out your current workflow
↳ Document what works and what doesn’t
↳ This gives you a baseline for improvement
2/ Make Problems Visible
↳ Small issues become expensive later
↳ Acknowledge problems when they occur
↳ Ask: “What frustrates you most today?”
3/ Attack Issues Immediately
↳ Don’t let problems linger
↳ Come up with a plan to solve them
↳ This keeps issues from becoming roadblocks
4/ Find the Root Cause
↳ Don’t just treat the symptoms
↳ Look for patterns, not just problems
↳ This prevents the core issue from repeating
5/ Propose Your Solutions
↳ Don’t dive in headfirst
↳ Plan out your controlled test solution
↳ Learn fast, without risking everything
6/ Test Smart Solutions
↳ Start with low-risk experiments
↳ Measure results obsessively
↳ Get feedback from everyone involved
7/ Lock In Improvements
↳ If the solution works, add it to your process
↳ Document the new standard
↳ Train your team immediately
Kaizen is not just for business.
It’s a way to keep improving in all areas of life.
“The only constant in life is change.” – Heraclitus
Kenrick Vaz 