When you break down the entomology of the word you can see that it is made up of two different words.
๐๐ฎ๐ถ – which means โchangeโ and ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ป – which means โgoodโ or โbetterโ. When you put them together you get something to the effect of โchange for the betterโ.
So not necessarily continuous improvement, but it does speak to the need for change in order for things to have a better outcome than what you currently have.
You could think about it in this context as well:
๐พ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง, ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ.
To me this is what kaizen is about โก๏ธ It is about changing our processes, our businesses or ourselves for the purpose of getting better. And more often then naught this can be a painful process and we have a tendency to back away from it.
When we use the term โcontinuous improvementโ I think we glaze over how hard the change can really be. But it can be the best thing you ever do for yourself or your business.
Change is often messy and can feel like a tearing apart in the process of rebuilding something. The picture that comes to mind for me is that of a Phoenix.
The bird must literally die and turn to ash in order to be reborn into a brand new beautiful creature. This is what I think of when I think of kaizen and what I have seen happen with people and processes.
This is why I have a tattoo of a Phoenix on my back, to remind me where Iโve been, of my past and that I am not that person anymore.
What picture comes to mind for you when you think about kaizen?