Let Change Help Grow Your Business

Stop the World ' I want to get off! This is not going to happen and you can't slow the train of change down either. Change is happening faster than in previous generations in every aspect of our lives.

This changing economy, with huge population growth and resources that are becoming finite bombards us with conflicting opinions about climate variability, global warming and how this will affect us personally and in our businesses.

Jennie Amato who is an internet guru recently wrote and article discussing about the skill sets needed for sustainable success in the changing economy.

She said that "In this new economy, your number one skill set for sustainable success will be your ability to adapt- change happens rapidly and entrepreneurs need to readily and quickly change too. It's in practicing the principles of Kaizen that entrepreneurs will thrive and in fact this will be a differentiating factor between those that thrive and those that barely survive."

It does not matter what your business is, the same thing applies - these are words of wisdom.

I can hear some of you asking what is Kaizen? Some of you know it as Lean Manufacturing.

Kaizen literally means change for the better. Two Japanese words Kai = change and Zen = Good or better are the origin off the word Kaizen. Another translation is continual improvement which is the basis of the quality movement.

It is also built into quality and environmental management systems that are planned to help you cope with change in your business

And there is one thing that is certain in this world, you will spend your life continually changing, so you have to be ready for change at all times

This ability to adapt to change, continually improve, prevent waste is so simple powerful and practical. It is a way of life. Quality, safety and environmental management systems are all closely interrelated and at the heart of Kai-zen. For the past 20 years since I first discovered the benefits of quality system in my family business and the peace of mind we achieved, i have being using this continual improvement to manage change in all aspects of my lift.

We hear a lot these days about sustainability and it is becoming nearly as misused as green and it has been hijacked by the environmental movement. In fact sustainability is about much more than simply environment.

Sustainable business is about making a profit so that you can continue to pay your workers, it is about looking after your customers, those very important people who pay all your bills, it is about looking after your workplace health and safety and of course it is about the environment, reducing waste, reducing energy use, reducing all emissions and of course reducing carbon, Carbon seems to be another word that has been heavily overused recently,

In fact you could say that sustainability is Kaizen.

Small steps to reduce all kinds of waste lead to continual improvement - energy, time, materials and human effort and to build in continual improvement with simple and effective ways to analyse the root cause of problems and set up systems that make it easier to do things right than to make a mistake.