Start small with your Kaizen changes

Do you have an idea for an improvement project but not sure where to start?

I see many of my clients wrestle with the same issue; how do you know when an improvement is designed and ready to be implemented?

There are a few questions that you can ask yourself if you are facing the same problem:

• Is the improvement risk free as it stands?
• Could you add to the improvement later on (without major re-work of what you have just done)?
• Can you pilot the idea, to minimise impact when testing the idea?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to all of the above then I would suggest that you don’t worry too much about designing a perfect improvement.

Improvements rarely are perfect and that is why embracing the Kaizen strategy with the PDCA cycle is such a great strategy.

This synergistic pairing enables you to start small, learn from your experience and then add on the next part of the journey. It is how many processes and businesses evolve.

So, why should your improvements be any different?

• Can you start with what you have today and reflect on the results as soon as you can?

If you reflect you have the opportunity to learn. When you learn you have the opportunity to change. When you change you have the ability to improve your results.

I have worked with many people that have followed this very same, and basic, approach. It gets results.

Don’t worry if you don’t think that you have the perfect Kaizen improvement idea yet. Start with its nucleus and build out from there.

You might be amazed by the results that you produce.