Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement and asserts that innovation is not a flash-in-the-pan, lightning bolt achievement but the result of diligence and devotion to details.
The kaizen approach aims for incremental progress by making the small things better on a daily basis; honesty, communication, and humility characterize the kaizen philosophy, which applies to organizations, relationships, and ourselves because kaizen insists that growth is everyone’s responsibility.
In organizations especially, it instills a culture of shared purpose, accountability, and equality. “The kaizen philosophy vehemently rejects the notion that only a select few members of a company’s hierarchy are responsible for innovation,” wrote author and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett.
With intense focus on workflow, process, and tasks, in the context of goals and objectives, everyone is challenged to notice what is optimal, where improvement is possible, and how to attain it. Likewise, kaizen opens the door for everyone to voice observations and regularly bring new ideas to the table.
Bartlett explains: “Create a standard, make sure everyone meets the standard, ask everyone to find ways to improve the standard, and repeat this process forever.”
Aspects of the kaizen philosophy can also be witnessed as spiritual truths evidenced in the pursuit of wisdom and process of discernment.
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Proverbs 27:17
In Ecclesiastes we meet a wise teacher who set out to understand the excellence of wisdom, “the stupidity of wickedness,” and “the folly of madness.” The teacher’s process for finding insights, while simple and basic, is also timeless; he “pondered,” “searched,” “taught people knowledge,” and “sought to write what was upright and true.”
Discovery and profound innovation happen step by step, line by line, and precept upon precept.
“Behold,” says the teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.”
I have always struggled with the story about the faith of the Gentile woman as told in the gospels of Matthew and Mark.
Jesus had withdrawn to Sidon and Tyre, along the Mediterranean Sea and many miles from Jerusalem, where the political leaders were plotting and scheming Jesus’ demise. Likely tired from urgent teaching and serving, as well as weighed down by the mounting threats, Jesus did not want anyone to know He had entered the seaside district, but could not escape the people’s notice.
In this way, we can relate to Jesus’ humanity and empathize with the stress and exhaustion, but what comes next is perplexing because it seems opposite of His character, and even dismissive and mean.
A pagan woman, Greek by birth, came to Jesus and begged for His mercy. She fell to His feet and asked Jesus to heal her daughter who was overtaken by an evil spirit. Initially, Jesus did not speak to the woman or even acknowledge her. His students even urged Jesus to send her away because she continued crying out in need.
He answered her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The women knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Jesus marveled at her faith. He told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
I confess that I can get lost in the words, and, to me, the comparison to feeding dogs is, on the surface, rude and disrespectful. However, Jesus is a dialectical teacher, and thus it is important to look beyond the words and into the meaning of the exchange.
In His silence and intentional dialogue, was Jesus making room for the woman’s response to influence how He would answer her request?
Was Jesus listening to her ideas and discerning the time to improve the standard?
Did Jesus want to teach His students a lesson?
That simply because something was initially stated a certain way – only to serve the lost sheep of Israel – new revelations could expand or refine the standard. As Jesus says later in John’s gospel, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
In Jesus’ ministry the standard is leading others to salvation, and He called His students to meet that standard by teaching as He taught. His encounter with the Gentile woman and her faith revealed how the standard would be improved: borders would no longer restrict Jesus’ message.
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,” Jesus said after His resurrection.
Today, we also are called to ensure this process repeats forever.
And in the essence of kaizen, the plan will be revealed to us and enacted through us if we trust in God, focus on the field, and serve in faith.
