The Japanese work "kaizen" means improvement. In more common practice, especially in the world of manufacturing, it is interpreted as "continuous improvement". While going on internet looking for meaning of "kai" and "zen" I came across a myriad of meanings. The following are some of the meanings:
- Kai: change, effect, use, world, story
- Zen: good, meditation (from Sanskrit word dhyānam, "meditation")
If you search the word "kaizen" on web you'll find hundreds of link related to productivity improvement. But for a moment if I leave my industrial engineer mind and just concentrate on the word itself I get a whole new perspective on "continuous improvement". Let us try and see how can we relate with kaizen.
Someone has wisely said "Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely". Everyday we see changes happening around us. The whole universe itself is in a continuous series of motion. From the sub-atomic particles to galaxies with thousands of light year diameter are moving continuously. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle states the more precisely the position of a particle is given, the less precisely can one say what its momentum is! The only thing certain around is uncertainty brought on by the change. Hinduism talks about the endless cycle of life-death as a soul wanders in the 8.4 million types of living species that exist. So change is the one truth in life which everybody faces almost everyday. Yet most of the times we are completely unprepared for it! But the question is how can we plan for a change as we don't have a clue of what's going to bump us? Everybody have their own philosophy about preparing for this uncertainty in life but my favorite is "kaizen".
Let me tell you why it is my favorite. Although the word literally means "improvement" but it has been interpreted as "continuous improvement" in productivity improvement. So if change is continuous shouldn't the improvement be continuous? Only then we can enjoy a more pleasant time in life. If we lag behind the change sooner or later we are bound to be in a disadvantage feeling miserable about it. In a recent Bollywood movie a character talks about how life is considered a race and if you don't run fast you'll be stamped out of it! Some may agree and some may not. However for me life is a journey not a race. While a race may have a certain objective but journey may just be an mysterious adventure. Whew! Now I am certainly wandering from my topic!
As life is continuously changing (for better or for worse) we should at least keep up with the change. Continuous improvement is one simple way to keep up with this change. Generally improvement is associated with a numerical change but it can be abstract as well. Improvement is a small change from the current state. For example: I moved my keyboard a couple of inches back to reduce the strain on my wrist. This is certainly a change and for better for my poor wrist. Or for a bigger example on of my college friend left his sales job last year for want of a better profile. His desire was to work in a field he likes not just to work. It is certainly a change but if life was to be a race he has certainly hammered his feet badly! But life is a change and sometimes to keep up with a change you may have to take a step backward and gear up again. In Toyota any worker who notices a problem in assembly line can push the button to stop the line.
So we all have the ability to mitigate the effects of a "bad" change and improve our chances to get out of the mess. And if the change is "good" we can still improve and use the heaven as a springboard to the next level. Remember the famous helmet ad on Doordarshan - Marzi hai aapki, aakhir sar hai aapka (It is your wish after all it's your head!)
Let me tell you why it is my favorite. Although the word literally means "improvement" but it has been interpreted as "continuous improvement" in productivity improvement. So if change is continuous shouldn't the improvement be continuous? Only then we can enjoy a more pleasant time in life. If we lag behind the change sooner or later we are bound to be in a disadvantage feeling miserable about it. In a recent Bollywood movie a character talks about how life is considered a race and if you don't run fast you'll be stamped out of it! Some may agree and some may not. However for me life is a journey not a race. While a race may have a certain objective but journey may just be an mysterious adventure. Whew! Now I am certainly wandering from my topic!
As life is continuously changing (for better or for worse) we should at least keep up with the change. Continuous improvement is one simple way to keep up with this change. Generally improvement is associated with a numerical change but it can be abstract as well. Improvement is a small change from the current state. For example: I moved my keyboard a couple of inches back to reduce the strain on my wrist. This is certainly a change and for better for my poor wrist. Or for a bigger example on of my college friend left his sales job last year for want of a better profile. His desire was to work in a field he likes not just to work. It is certainly a change but if life was to be a race he has certainly hammered his feet badly! But life is a change and sometimes to keep up with a change you may have to take a step backward and gear up again. In Toyota any worker who notices a problem in assembly line can push the button to stop the line.
So we all have the ability to mitigate the effects of a "bad" change and improve our chances to get out of the mess. And if the change is "good" we can still improve and use the heaven as a springboard to the next level. Remember the famous helmet ad on Doordarshan - Marzi hai aapki, aakhir sar hai aapka (It is your wish after all it's your head!)
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Exellent language. Lucid thoughts.
ReplyDeleteKevat Ram