You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Kaizen’s ultimate goal is to facilitate the completion of small changes and improvements generated through the ongoing efforts of all members of a business team. A chain of these small but important refinements can generate big results, surpassing the outcome of the typical single large project tactic.

The goal of Kaizen is not to recreate or reinvent the fundamentals of the existing system, but to boost its productivity by making small but significant changes, not drastic ones. Managers at all levels encourage, and are involved in, the learning process. Continued scrutiny of how the current system works reveals and targets opportunities for change, and the implementation of those changes can improve the system’s process and potential. Adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) helps maintain control, but once improvements are in place, SOPs will change to reflect the new work environment.

Although having little overlap in their scope, and typically not being considered as alternatives for each other, Lean and Six Sigma can both be effectively combined with Kaizen concepts. A business that needs to address quality concerns and variations, a business that needs to evaluate and enhance process flow and efficiency and minimize costly waste, would do well to consider integrating Kaizen with these two strategies.

Elements of Lean’s Manufacturing Process and Kaizen Projects are very similar. Each process contains such factors as a mission statement, distinct objectives, and set target goals. Both conform to the manufacturing process call PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) model. This model is ideal for project, which are planned for a short duration of time. Through this model project can be scheduled and completed with the goal of continual improvement and a reduction of waste. When used properly both manufacturing process models can increase productivity.

Unfortunately, though such projects often bring about changes, there is a downside.  They can result in root problems in a business not being analyzed as thoroughly as necessary to bring about optimal changes.  This is commonly due to the time span limitations placed on projects.   Integration of processes can prove quite useful here; quick changes and improvements can be accomplished through projects resulting in a sound addressing of problem areas based on collected data obtained with the flow of Six Sigma projects.

For instance, a project is undertaken by a bank which desires to increase the volume of walk-in customer sales. Using the tools of both processes, an analysis of a range of marketing methods along with their results can determine their effectiveness various customer demographics.  For set short periods of time, Kaizen projects can be undertaken in order to determine which method is better in a given situation.  Further implementation may follow for the method which is most effective.

And so, rather than limiting effectiveness by using only one tool, such as Kaizen, the utilization of all three processes is a more logical and efficient approach to solving problems within a business.  This combination of all three processes can continuously bring about profitable improvements.

As the old saying goes, health is wealth. And in this case we are referring to spiritual wealth. Whole food is good for our health because our body is able to absorb its full nutrients – the same with our life. When we embrace our life as a whole, savoring all the experiences and feelings in it, our soul will be able to absorb its full ‘nutrient’, grasping the full essence of our existence, and enabling us to live our life to the fullest. Masami Sato shares the magic of living a whole life in this excerpt from her latest book, ONE.

How come that many of us, (in fact, more of us) occasionally have a hollow feeling in our life? It is like the pangs of hunger. When we eat, the hunger is appeased and then we are not as much interested in food. But after a while, we become hungry again. Then, surprisingly we feel again enticed by the flavour and vision of food. We also experience some sort of a pining when we are not even actually hungry – just after we had some food. Some of us are perpetually hungry.

Persistent emotional thirst is not the happiest feeling to have. Then how can we live our lives to the brim? How can we be more contented enduringly?

Maybe the answer is easy. Just live our lives totally. The word ‘total’ holds the meaning of fullness. Then the secret to live a full life is just to live it totally.

Let us begin by looking at an example of this ‘completion’ with something very close to our mind – our stomach.

Whole Food VS Semi Food

We are familiar with the word ‘whole food.’ It is said that consuming whole food is the secret to the health and fitness we need. What has whole food got more than ‘part food?’

A whole grain for example has a life. So, if you soak the whole grain in water, drain the next day and leave for a few days, it sprouts. It has a life of its own. When we eat such food, our body absorbs the full live nutrients. It has all the properties to cleanse, heal and nurture different body cells.

And exactly like the example of a grain, much of customary eating includes consuming whole edible creatures as well. Eating full fresh fish used to be more prevalent than having a half of it and casting the rest away. It was exactly so for meat and every edible plant product.

‘Part food’ sometimes tastes better and smells better but does not have much nutrition. We may enjoy its taste, but we could have some lasting illness if we only ate ‘part food’ all days of our life.

So, to compensate the absent half, we started to have dietary supplements. We have been analysing and learning for quite some time to reach the correct balance. It becomes more and more problematical as we chop up the food, process it and ship it, and even try to make up the deficiency with other parts that have its origin in other countries, seasons or sources. Some of these supplements do not even come from natural food sources. They are artificially made. After testing and analysing, it is endorsed to be edible. But no matter how much we strive; we cannot bring all the ‘bits’ together to make it alive and pulsating.

Part Life-’Sweetness’ of Life

So, if we looked at our life now, part of what we are doing can be like eating the ‘half food’. Just savouring the sweetness of life but throwing away the real nourishing part. And if we soaked our ‘half life’ in water with other bits and left it in the sunlight, could it shoot and grow into a beautiful whole life?

Whole food is not (as some people seem to believe) of a bland taste. In fact it tastes better if cooked properly. But as requirement is low, it is more costly. It is in reality more cost-effective in the long term though, as we will have to pay less as medical costs later on. When more people will start having it, it would automatically become less expensive as it is a simple food with less processing cost and waste.

Our life is very similar. When we only value the ‘sugariness’, and cast out the rest as litter because we don’t perceive its value, we may be throwing out the most important portion. And what we jettison could have the biggest power for the endorsement of our life and our financial health. It also takes more strength and resources to cast it out. Better still, that which is thrown away comes free.

So, what is it that we do not perceive?

Think of a life where we didn’t actually sense we were missing anything there.

The secret is right here. The secret of a full life.

Whole Life-The Complete Life

When it’s ‘whole’, it doesn’t matter how big the whole is. It can expand simultaneously. It can still contain all the elements to sustain itself as a whole living being. Once it grows to a certain size, it can still live without some of the parts. Like plants can live after being eaten a little by birds or trees still thrive even after losing their leaves. But if we neglect the balance for a very long time, eventually it can start creating a fatal imbalance. Then it could become too complicated to get back into balance.

We do not have to return to prehistoric times to find fullness. Fullness exists in the present. All that is required to do is view intently; view intently enough to actually find.

When we begin seeing our life in its fullness and stop casting out what nurtures our life the most, we start experiencing more and more satisfaction without looking for ‘things’ to fill the gaps and hollows of our life. Things finally fit into place. We now grasp the intricacies of our world in a completely different manner.

Yes, it is now time to find out how we can create (and see) this balance, continuously and sustainably.

The actual enriching part of our life is what makes us feel fine deep inside. It is like that portion of food that makes us hale and hearty in the final tally. Sensations we experience in our daily life are the real answer to our lasting joy. And there are sensations that make us feel more full.

The smiles we see when we give acknowledgements to others. The joy we feel when we give gifts to others. The love we feel when we see our children being happy. The inspirations we receive when we feel our life is full of meaning

Let us absorb these moments of our life wholeheartedly and savour the aroma of our full life. Then we will find how it is not obligatory to incessantly fill our heart (and belly!) with earthly satisfactions – those types of things that only add to our yearnings afterwards.

We can actually experience this delight, thankfulness and affection in order to sense life as a whole at any minute irrespective of the circumstances. It is not about what we perceive, what we are told or how we act that conclude our life as a whole. It is about what we ‘opt to’ feel about our life.

Yes, our life in fact is already whole.

When we begin acting based on this awareness, we can have real mastery over the balance creation – lasting physical wellbeing, riches, nourishing bond and joy.

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