The Japanese Secret To Lasting Change

“There are no big problems – there are just a lot of little problems.”

Forever a fascinating point for the West, Japan and its philosophies continue to boast a profound hold all around the world. Practices such as ikigai, kakebo and even the KonMari method have exploded in Europe and the US, helping stressed, overworked individuals, to thrive in ways that benefit their mental health. However, one of the earliest and most powerful Japanese practices has yet to take off in the West, and it’s one that really works; kaizen.

A Japanese noun roughly translated into ‘good change’ or ‘improvement,’ kaizen is all about making continuous changes during the course of your life. In Kaizen: The Japanese Method Of Transforming Habits One Small Step at a Time, author Robert Maurer explores the practice while also examining the history of kaizen, introducing psychological theories throughout. She found that the philosophy isn’t about change for change’s sake, but about identifying particular goals––both short-term and long-term––and then making small, manageable steps to achieve them.

Here’s what Caitriona thought:

“My main takeaway from the book is that it’s all about the small improvements to a process, teamwork and quality. Rather than forcing us to make big dramatic changes, kaizen emphasises doing things incrementally, using psychological teaching around why we find it hard to give up bad habits and stick to new challenges. Imagine fear as a lion standing between an employee and progress. Kaizen doesn’t rush at the lion, it sings it to sleep and then gently pads past it. The book also offers a clear structural framework for going about change, most commonly known as a business methodology, but it has clear benefits for your own personal development too. It can transform the way that you feel about yourself, your goals, and your environment.”

Caitriona’s Main Takeaways:

1. Small, continuous improvements keep everything moving in the right direction

In the book, the authors described an example involving a GP in a clinic. The GP asked all members of staff to think of the smallest step possible that could improve the practice, as long as the step didn’t cost anything and benefitted customers. One initiative was an after sales service where patients were called after appointments to see how they were. This lead to better patient retention and created goodwill. Some steps were so small that they can seem ridiculous, but again and again, kaizen is proven to work

2. Treating people well and showing them respect is paramount

When US online shoe retailer Zappos was hiring, they considered feedback from the van driver who returned the interviewee to the airport. If they were inconsiderate to the driver they didn’t get the job.

3. Attention to detail

Rock band Van Halen had an unusual stipulation in their concert contracts. If any brown M&M’s were found in the confectionary provided backstage, the band could cancel the entire concert at the full expense of the promoter. By focussing the promoter’s attention on the small details Van Halen took confidence that the shows they participated in would be executed to the highest possible standard.

4. Don’t pretend mistakes don’t or shouldn’t happen in our business

Outline the mistakes you want to avoid at all costs. Share these with your team. Ask your team “where are the O Rings?”(warning signs in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster) and then decide how you’ll make it safe for the team to talk about errors. The cousin of creation is patience, and creating an environment of fear helps no one.

5. Focus on small questions, and avoid large ones

Such as ‘how do I change the world?’. Think about, instead, ‘what’s the smallest way we could improve one of our products?’ or ‘what is a small but annoying problem that affects our customers?’. Instead of asking employees to make big changes in how they act, ask them to make small changes in how they think. Including changing how they talk to themselves and changing the way they think about their role or tasks.

Summary

The word kaizen held its original meaning of “change for the better” until a Japanese organisational theorist Masaaki Imai popularized the term as business philosophy. The book, author and general philosophy all centre around one theory: make small and consistent improvements. The benefits of this method are great and work when it comes to conquering bigger projects, such as mergers or marathons or even quitting smoking. The idea is that if you can work on small improvements as little as 1% every day, according to Maurer, it will compound over the year and will, in turn, generate over 3778% improvement.

The bulk of the text serves purely as a guide for readers, detailing that if one encounters stumbling blocks, rather than pivoting to self-critique, one can adjust targets to create more achievable goals wherever necessary. True change can take days, months, or years, Maurer notes, and the process should be allowed to unfold whichever way comes easiest. The focus is on having patience, shaping solutions for yourself rather than following others and not giving up when things aren’t working. Well-known in the business and sports worlds as a method for mapping incremental goals, kaizen is also a wonderful tool for slowly improving aspects of your life, without feeling daunted or overwhelmed by the challenge. Kaizen by Robert Maurer provides a tailored, tries-and-tested and flexible approach to change that you can apply and adapt to fit any area of your life. Every person’s experience of Kaizen will be different, which is what makes it such an effective tool for positive change.   

Financial advisor to the Irish community pharmacy sector, food & beverage, SME and retail.

We at Fitzgerald Power have spent thirty years offering creative solutions to a diverse range of clients across Ireland, and the UK, and we’re pretty proud of what we’ve helped our clients to achieve. We enable and empower businesses to reach any and every goal. Whatever the job, we don’t offer anything less than the best. We work across a range of sectors, including pharmacy, food & beverage, SME and retail. Please get in touch today if you would like to speak to any of our experts.

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