"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lao Tzu.
The first step is always essential to accomplishing a certain goal. If you waited for
things to happen, probably nothing would happen. You have to take the initiative and
act. You need to take the first step, and then the other steps will follow.
Reading Keizen gave me a clear understanding of our way of life—whether it be in
our personal lives, professional lives, or social lives. (– "Life deserves to be
constantly improved." The first step is just the beginning, but how we continually
improve it is another challenge we must take.
Every organization has issues, and when these issues are acknowledged, chances for
change can arise. It evolves around continuous improvement that involves everyone in
the organization and heavily relies on cross-functional teams that can be empowered
to question the status quo. It is not too difficult to introduce something new into an
organization. The difficult part is how to keep it going and maintain the momentum
once it has been introduced.
Kaizen seeks to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and security. Thus, everyone in
the company is important, and identifying gaps and inefficiencies is the responsibility
of every employee. Everyone inside the organization, at all levels, should give
suggestions for areas that could be better.
And by remaining a positive member of the organization, one can see new
opportunities and opportunities to grow oneself and the organization. Without a
positive attitude, one will stop fighting, one will stop innovating, one will become
blind to opportunities, and one will start wasting one’s life.
Another principle from Keizen is seeking knowledge from a few people. Everyone
has their own interpretation of the world (subjective reality) and everyone sees the
situation from a different angle. Thus, constructive discussion will benefit the whole
organization. Broad participation can improve morale and satisfaction, as well as
production, costs, and other hard measures.
Any form of effective change implementation begins with having the correct mindset
among individuals, teams, and the entire business.