Peaceful brand building with the Japanese principle of Kaizen.
Kaizen is a principle of gradual improvement. Instead of setting big goals, kaizen urges us to continually set small, reachable goals. It’s about always aiming to be just one percent better.
Even a journey of thousand miles starts with a single step. Kaizen encourages you to focus, not on the thousand miles, but on each step.
But one percent better, consistent little steps over time, well that leads to big change.
Tiny shifts and improvements seem insignificant up close, but when it’s a daily habit over years — the result is momentous.
Almost counter-intuitive to our Western mentalities, right?
Let’s think of this in terms of a common work scenario: a rebrand. How do you expect this rebrand to go? A new logo, new website. Maybe a launch party. Social media. Perhaps some press or influencer coverage. A big rollout. A dramatic and swift change in image and then back to business as usual. Am I close?
Now let’s imagine a more kaizen approach. Instead of a sweeping overhaul, it’s a slower, gentler process. More responsive. An implementation of small changes while still giving each piece the care and attention it needs to be that one percent better. Changes are rolled out slower. Updates not overhauls. Quiet shifts in look and feel.
And in the end, instead of a whirlwind launch and back to business as normal, we’ve fundamentally shifted. Not just how we look and feel, but who we are and how we operate.
Building on small wins leads to lasting change.
I think it was Bill Gates who said, people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in ten.
To me, this the power of kaizen. It’s an antidote that keeps us from getting sucked into seeing only the big picture. Trying to take on more than we can serve faithfully. Adding too many big projects and then failing to serve them well. Too much focus on the miles ahead and too little focus on each step.
And ironically, when we focus on each step and on continuous micro improvements, I think one day we’ll look up and realize we’ve gone far further than we thought we could.