The Journey Or The Goal

In Japan, the kaizen philosophy is a way of life. Kaizen to the Japanese is just an everyday word translated as improvement. However, like many oriental languages, words relate to concepts rather than discrete meanings. Kaizen therefore carries the connotations of continuous improvement, ongoing change, change for the better, etc.

Improving one’s whole person is seen as important to the Japanese. In fact, when a person in Japan decides to catch up with a friend they haven’t seen for a while, they say they are going to see how they have changed.

This aspect of kaizen is known as kokoro. Literally this word can be translated as heart, spirit, or feelings, but again being a concept the meanings can vary and a more accurate translation would be essence. If you haven’t heard of kokoro it’s not surprising as it’s little used here in the West. Kokoro refers to the psychological improvements and changes that take place as a person travels through life and the physical, spiritual and intellectual development of that person.

Kokoro therefore regards the journey as being as important as reaching the goal. As the meaning of kaizen is continuous improvement, there is in effect no finishing line; the goal can never be truly reached as the target is always moving. Thus kokoro, as a part of the kaizen philosophy, is a very important concept for us to understand.

Too many times, whether in life or in business, the realization of the goal is seen as the most important aspect of change; the tangible, bottom line improvement upon which we will judge success. However, if we were to apply the kokoro principle, the improvements we make along the way, no matter how small, are themselves of equal importance.

In an earlier post I spoke about how, when planning any improvement we should celebrate each small “win.” This is essentially kokoro in action. Each win is important, not only because it keeps our motivation high, but because each small step we successfully implement is in itself an improvement. With each win we have improved ourselves and those around us and successfully moved ourselves on from the position we started from. Whether it’s our first step along the kaizen path or one of many, it’s still a win and deserves celebrating. That’s kokoro.

When we attempt to improve some aspect of our lives, we should question our reasons, our motivation. Are our underlying reasons for change based around finding ways to truly benefit ourselves and our family, our friends and colleagues, or are they for purely selfish reasons? Of course we may have the goal of acquiring for ourselves greater wealth, but is it for wealth’s sake or is it to use that wealth to further improve our condition and the condition of those around us? And is the pursuit of wealth making us blind to the other, less material improvements we have made in its pursuit.

When we decide on making operational changes at work do we do so from the point of view of helping our workers benefit and develop as valued colleagues and human beings, or do we just view it from a financial, bottom line position? Are we only interested in making those changes that will please and improve our shareholders position, whilst the interests and self-improvement of our workers are pushed firmly to the side?

If we find our underlying motivations are based solely around the end goal, the final product, then we are failing in our commitment to introduce kaizen to our lives and it is doubtful if we’ll stick with it. We will become bored when our primary goal is still a long way off and we will end up becoming distracted by short-term, quick fix solutions where success is usually short-lived at best. We’ll also miss the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate the small changes we have made and that have improved our condition, albeit in a minor way.

Indeed, you can only say that you are practicing kaizen, the principle of gradual continuous improvement, when you first understand and practice kokoro.

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