You’re working on the most waterfall project that ever was. You’re building the Death Star in a corporate office. It’s got the most rigidly fixed time, scope and budget constraints that ever did get committed to an unbreakable spreadsheet.
But you have an idea.
You might just improve everyone’s flow of work. Or maybe you’ll improve something in the finished product. Perhaps you’ve found a way to help speed up delivery.
And you do it.
Even the Emperor can’t criticise your deviation from the plan if it helps get things done faster.
So what is this?
It’s called Kaizen. Many of you will know about it.
It literally translates as “change for good/betterment” and it’s often used as a conveniently shorter byword for the concept of “continuous improvement”.
If you adopt a kaizen mindset, you are open to making changes in the pursuit of betterment.
It doesn’t matter what framework or methodology or project management discipline you use, if you have a kaizen mindset, things can only get better.
Reflect and Improve
“At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.”
Kaizen is a key part of Agile. It’s actually built in to the Agile manifesto as you can see in the twelfth and final Agile principle shown above.
And if you’re following a framework to the letter, but not actively looking for ways to improve (and even potentially deviate from it) then you’re just doing what some people call ‘Zombie Agile’.
That’s going through the motions without challenging yourself and your colleagues on how to enhance how you work.
Kaizen can even lead to changing how you implement a framework so that you’re technically breaking the rules, but you’re confident it’s for the better.
It works for mental health too
What’s one thing that might make things better for you?
Maybe it’s a morning walk. Maybe it’s trying to connect with one or two individuals, a group or a community.
Perhaps you want to try taking up a new hobby. Or maybe it’s the sometimes scary but important step of just speaking up about how you feel, with someone you trust or a healthcare practitioner.
Give something a go and see if it makes things better for you. And if it doesn’t, it’s okay. You tried something out and you learnt something new. And learning is always a form a improvement.
So what are you waiting for?
Let’s get going! What can you change and improve right now to make things better?
But wait!
Note that part of the word kaizen is “zen”.
Picture what that means to you. It evokes images of calm, serene, mindfulness.
A kaizen mindset isn’t revolutionary. It’s incremental. Do it at a gentle pace. Walk don’t run. Keep it sustainable. Don’t burn out.
Those sorts of improvements are more likely to stick.
And the same approach works whether you’re trying to steer a corporation from one way of working to another, or if you’re simply trying to manage your own mental health.
Little, often, steady and sustainable adjustments are more likely to stick and they add up over time.
Start small. Be gradual. Don’t take on too much.
Your next move
So what’s one small improvement you can make today, or by the end of this week?
Have a think, give it a go, and share in the comments below what happens.
Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ve still learnt something new. Keep going.
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