Kaizen

改善 — Continuous Improvement

Kaizen is often translated as "continuous improvement," but this misses the deeper meaning. The concept isn't about improvement as a project with a beginning and end. It's about improvement as a way of being.

The Western Misunderstanding

Western business adopted kaizen as a manufacturing methodology—suggestion boxes, efficiency metrics, process optimization. These applications aren't wrong, but they reduce a philosophy to a technique.

True kaizen begins with dissatisfaction not as complaint but as fuel. The question isn't "what's wrong?" but "what could be better?"

Daily Practice

Kaizen in personal practice means asking each evening: what small thing did I learn today? What will I do slightly differently tomorrow? The changes needn't be dramatic. Dramatic change is often unsustainable. Small change, consistently applied, transforms everything.

One percent better each day. After a year, you're thirty-seven times better.