Kaizen
8 November 2024 - Adetswil
I picked up Sarah Harvey's Kaizen on a whim last month in the Istanbul airport. There seems to be a flurry of self-improvement books extolling aspects of Japanese culture and, during my current phase of Japanophilia I am a sucker for them. Harvey's book was themed around the idea of kaizen: making small improvements toward a goal. It's historically an idea that the Japanese imported from America and then put their own spin on. What began as the continuous improvement of industrial processes became making small improvements in every part of life. One thinks of James Clear's Atomic Habits and pioneers of industrial engineering like Frank Gilbreth. Interestingly, even though Gilbreth's work focused on industry, he also brought his ideas into his home life as detailed in the book his children wrote about him, Cheaper by the Dozen. I read this book when I was about ten, so the ideas of efficiency, organization, measurement, and small improvements toward a goal have been a part of my life a long time. I found myself nodding in agreement at most of Harvey's book, and it was interesting to see the ideas packaged in a Japanese context. She also introduced me to some new kanji, which is also fun.
