Why Must You Have Continuous Improvement?

"Kaizen" is the Japanese word for 'improvement'. It pertains to continuous improvement, whether in personal life, home life, social life or working life. Kaizen has even been credited as the key to Japan's competitive success.

How important is continuous improvement to you in your personal life? Should you aim to be a better person, day by day, at the rate of 1% a day? Or just on one special day in a year, you increase your ability by 100%?

Which do you think is easier - 1% a day improvement for 365 days? Or 365% on 31st December (so that you can relax and 'enjoy' life the rest of the previous 364 days?).

When you improve yourself by 1% everyday, don't you think you will be awesome after a year? When you make 'improvement' a habit, will it become more difficult or easier for you, as time goes on?

I attended a 4-day business seminar (conducted by a multi-millionaire), in Singapore in June 2008 at the Singapore Exposition Centre. About 2,000 participants from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, India and Maldives attended.

At the seminar, I met two millionaires - one from Maldives and the other from Singapore. I asked them why they were attending a business seminar, when they are already successful in their businesses. Both replied that they were looking for new ideas that could improve their business results. If millionaires are willing to attend training programs to improve their knowledge (to improve their results), shouldn't you also?

In organisations with enlightened Human Resource Management departments, continuous training is critical to their organisations' continuous drive for excellence. Formalised (out of the office) training, usually at least 5 days in a year, is planned for all staff. Informal (on the job) training is provided by constant job rotation (i.e. on average, two years in one job, before being assigned another job). An accountant could be trasferred to the Information Technology department for two years on a project. An engineer could be assigned to the Human Resource department for two years, to be in-charge of training (of engineers).

On an individual or personal level, you must continuously give more value to your organisation that you are working for. How? By becoming more efficient, perhaps by doing things faster. By becoming more effective, perhaps by getting new ideas from books, or using what you learned in formal training.

On an organisational level, the products or services that you deliver must have "use-value" which is more than "cash-value". This could be done by continuouosly improving product quality. Research and Development (R&D) is therefore critical in regard to this product quality aspect.

The moral of the story? As the saying goes, "If you are not growing, then you are dying". Wallace D Wattles aptly wrote, " Every living thing is under this necessity for continuous advancement; where increase of life ceases, dissolution and death set in at once." Abraham Lincoln said, "I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Are You ready to take action to become a Better You? An "Improved You" Model?

I wish you Success in your undertakings, and Good Health and Wealth to you and your family. Take care!