Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work ("muri"), and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes. In all, the process suggests a humanized approach to workers and to increasing productivity
I've really taken a page out of an old classic here. Anthony Robbins, in his book "Awaken the Giant Within", brings the idea of kaizen into the context of purposefully reshaping our belief system and (re)establishing positive convictions about ourselves and our lives to realize our goals and full potential. The compounded effects of all the small and large improvements will have extraordinary effects over time. But we can't do this whenever we just feel like it. It has to be incorporated into how we live every day, we have to do it at all times.
What does this have to do with sports? As many principles of success in life, like the kaizen, they can always be transferred to better training and racing. And that is true the other way around: the processes we incorporate into our training (preparing) and racing (delivering) can be directly applied to how we should live our lives.
"Small improvements are believable, therefore achievable." - Anthony Robbins
If you follow the popular triathlon media, more and more frequently top coaches are quoted saying that their athletes follow a training plan that calls for consistent work at volumes and intensities that they can handle. Rest weeks are eliminated from the athletes' routine, the workouts are designed so they can recover from one sessions to the next, the weekly routine is the same and they have to make small improvements each week.
Want proof? Probably the most notable person is Sami Ikinen, a successful business person and one of the best age group triathletes in the world is coached by Matt Dixon. Ikinen often writes about his training and reveals a system that closely resembles a kaizen approach. In a more recent article Joel Filliol, a famous triathlon coach of some notable athletes like Simon Whitfield and Jordan Rapp, talks about the same idea: constant, steady work to make small improvements will yield higher fitness and skill levels, better and more consistently performing athletes. Interestingly, Filliol mentions that his athletes are stressed just enough to make those small improvements but they avoid overly hard work, which the kaizen also proposes. No muri!
Constantly looking for improvements is not just a physical exercise to make processes more efficient. It is just as much a mental and spiritual exercise. Gradual improvements are achievable, they offer confidence in our work and support in our beliefs that we can do what we set out to achieve. The definition of kaizen says that this process humanizes work, gives meaning to what we do. And once we realize that, we are on the path of happiness : ).
