hidden image

Kaizen: A Praxis-oriented Life

P. A. Joseph P. A. Joseph
16 Jan 2023
The Kaizen philosophy assumes that our way of life -- be it our working life, our social life, or our home life -- deserves to be constantly improved (Mr Masaaki Imai)

Kaizen is a Japanese ideology and methodology of action and living. It is a practical philosophy and spirituality discovered, experienced and being lived by the Japanese people. It bears grant success. In short it forms and instructs for better ways of living in all circumstances. As an ideology it speaks volumes of struggle for success. It is a philosophy deeply praxis-oriented. As a spirituality it looks for the best way of performing and hence it takes you to that which is beyond oneself. It gives a divine and human power for the best. 

Ultimately, we live what we believe. Hence our life is not mere functioning and it goes beyond. It is constantly in search of improvement and hence it is limitless and in a way infinite.  Hence it constantly searches for needed change to discover the next step. The search for change is not for change’s sake. It demands to identify practical goals both short- term and long-term ways of living. It always believes in making small and manageable steps to achieve the goals perceived. It always enforces changes to be taken step by step. Even a small step is significant, as every step looks to the next one ahead. It also demands to restart as we are bound to make mistake or prone to divert from the goal ahead. 

When I say Kaizen is a process, it speaks of movement: physical, mental, psychological, environmental or even emotional; in one word: human.  Similarly, any process, advance, progress, evolution, any operation, any undertaking, speaks of movement and action. In this process, or dynamism, I do not/should not fall into routine. For routine is unintelligent, irrational, and not really attuned to what is human. Animals can be trained in routine way of doing. When I follow routine, the role of intelligence in me collapses. If humans go routinized, he/she is less human and go close to being animalised. Every action must be guided by intelligence and not by habits and routine. In this context, I need to amend my life with small actions that are transformative. Hence, I should look at even small things, events, omissions, procedures, etc. as really significant. Little things are incremental with transformative effects. 

Another dynamism of Kaizen-mode is the wisdom to prioritize. We deal with number of issues important and less important, casual and urgent, traditional and progressive, conservative and modern, and such issues. My approach must be to negotiate what is relevant as the saying goes: “Need of the time is the will of God” (Theodosius Florentini). In this endeavour I need to analyse as to what is the priority in my procedure. Ability to prioritise is wisdom. Yet another aspect is to avoid toxic situation and be relaxed in the approach in confronting issues. This demands the Kaizen method of silence and reflection. There is much to learn from/in silence-culture than noise-culture. Kaizen-method well understood and followed, maximises possibilities in any one’s life situations with all its negative and uphill milieu. Its dynamism is its positive approach to tough life situations. 

The Kaizen philosophy assumes that our way of life -- be it our working life, our social life, or our home life -- deserves to be constantly improved (Mr Masaaki Imai).
Kaizen-method is a PASSPORT and VISA to be clearly and easily approved in my life even in a just few days and adopting new challenges. Kaizen will make me transparent.                                                                                                                              

Recent Posts

You may be supremely happy that your Freedom of Religion Bill has received the President's assent and has now come into force in Maharashtra. But there is an irony that you may not have noticed.
apicture A. J. Philip
31 Aug 2026
India's children are discovering the power of protest. Their demands are modest. Safe classrooms, clean water, toilets, teachers and dignity. If governments silence those who expose these failures rat
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
31 Aug 2026
Gonsalves was born on April 5, 1954, in Munnar, nestled in the Western Ghats in Idukki District of Kerala, into a prominent Anglo-Indian family from Pallippuram in Kochi's Vypin. He was the eldest son
apicture Renjith Leen
31 Aug 2026
A "church-free Odisha" must not become a cause for fear or retaliation. Christians must respond with truth, courage and peace, remembering that our strongest witness is faithful service: building brid
apicture Archbishop John Barwa, SVD
31 Aug 2026
Vande Mataram once united Indians against colonialism. Its appropriation today seeks to turn a shared national symbol into a test of Hindu nationalism and patriotism, diverting attention from governan
apicture Oliver D'Souza
31 Aug 2026
Recent cases of infants abandoned in Haryana, Karnataka and Jharkhand expose a legal system built for children who can speak, not infants who cannot. Strict criminal penalties for abandonment push par
apicture Vidyadhar Prabhudesai
31 Aug 2026
The smartphone may be the millstone of our age: a pocket-sized idol that promises connection but breeds distraction. When we surrender ourselves to its endless pull, children learn to imitate us. True
apicture Fr. Anil Prakash D'Souza, OP
31 Aug 2026
Dolly's faith was heard not only in gospel songs but also in her generosity. Through her Imagination Library, she placed millions of books into the hands of children. She did not merely sing about lov
apicture Robert Clements
31 Aug 2026
A democracy must distinguish between an armed insurgent and a questioning citizen. Calling critics, students, academics or activists "Dimaagi Naxals" is unacceptable. Strength lies not in silencing di
apicture Dr Martin Valiyaparambil VC
24 Aug 2026
As I watched, I could not help remembering the interview I did with your father, NKP Salve, for Jain TV in the 1990s. Goswami, I presume, was then still "studying for some time in a Jesuit-run school,
apicture A. J. Philip
24 Aug 2026