The title of this piece is a quotation credited to Mahatma Gandhi.
It is a quote that we often see paraphrased in business, and I know that I have used it to encourage others who were struggling to make, what they perceived, were positive changes in the way that they worked. They felt, rightly or wrongly, that their efforts were doomed to failure – that others simply would not come along for the ride. In such cases, you can easily come up against the phrase, “why bother?”
This view is why the video below held such resonance for me when I watched it. I embed it here with the kind permission of Katie Anderson who, alongside Isao Yoshino, gave us one of the lean publishing highlights of last year, “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn.”
I really love the message in this video, and the challenges that come with it.
How can we align to our true purpose today, and improve ourselves, through self-disciplined action, towards the greater good? The essence of kaizen is right there, and it is so amazing!
I watched another video this weekend. In it, Paul Akers was making a rousing keynote speech to the delegates of AME Boston 2017. At one point, he starts telling the story of Sakichi Toyoda, describing how, and why, he invented the automatic loom. Akers, author of “2-Second Lean,” describes how the driver was not money, nor fame, but the desire of Sakichi to help his mother – to see her work with less effort and pain.
To achieve this goal, Toyoda had to learn, through many PDCA iterations, and apply the discipline to keep on keeping on, even when things looked bleak. Why? Because it was the right thing to do for both Sakichi’s mother and the wider weaving community. Sakichi Toyoda wanted to see a change, so he became it.
In my 2020 book, “Super Lean: Unlock Your Company’s Million-Dollar Edge,” I reflect heavily on this people-oriented, purpose-driven side of lean.
One thing that came to mind during the writing, as the 2020 Covid Lockdown was unfolding, was that the building in which I worked was sitting empty. So, I wondered, where was the company? Did it even exist?
The company was not the building, how could it be? The company could not even be said to be the product. That was the output. So much had to happen before our customers could have their purchases. So where was the business? Was it a set of papers, stored in a vault somewhere?
It couldn’t be that either.
Then I had a realisation. The business was in the hearts of the people, both the workers and the customers, the same hearts that Katie mentions in the video above. That was the only place that it truly existed. It was a brand that we all carried within and brought to life with our minds, thought and consciousness.
As with anything, we were experiencing the business as a manifestation of our thought in the moment, held in our collective minds, and powered by consciousness. (These three principles of thought, mind, and consciousness, were reiterated by Sydney Banks, and form the basis of what I call “3P’s Lean.”)
So, it makes so much sense when you see the true meaning of kaizen as improving yourself with self-discipline, towards a greater good – because that is the only thing that you can do.
Isn’t that liberating?
You are not responsible for changing the world for everyone, but you can change your world by changing you and your view of it. In this sense chasing waste can become fun, and obvious, rather than arcane drudgery. Improving your processes becomes the right thing to do because we value our customer over ourselves, and we recognise the greater good of looking after our companies.
With this thinking, departmental battles and silos just drop away. We simply have to ask, what is right for the customer? What is right for the community? What is right by the North Star? What is right for the future?
Because we are only temporary custodians of our jobs. We owe it to those that will follow to leave our tasks and workplaces better than we found them. Work as if you are leaving your job to your child. In a sense, you are. Isn’t this the zen meaning that Katie Anderson speaks about?
You can find Katie Anderson’s book “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” by following this link.
You can read my review of “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” at this link.
Or you can visit Katie’s website at Home – Katie Anderson (kbjanderson.com)
Simon D. Gary is the author of the ground-breaking book “Super-Lean: Unlock Your Company’s Million-Dollar Edge.” In it, you can learn more about the concept of 3P’s Lean, as outlined above.
