The old saying that “If you don’t move forward, sooner or later you begin to move backward” was spoken by Mikhail Gorbachev and is linked to discussing issues as serious as nuclear disarmament! I am here to say that when it comes to moving forward in your personal life or career it is as important as the Russians and Americans talking about preventing nuclear war!
So how you can move forward must mean that you continuously improve?
Gemba is a Japanese term meaning “the actual place”. Gemba has some different applications but in the workplace it refers to the actual place where value is created. I like to think that the place where value is created can also be within us. If we learn, grow and look to improve we become the actual place!
Gemba is also a principle in lean business management and if we look at principles such as six sigma that includes the removal of errors and continuous improvement. Kaizen, also a Japanese term means to continuously improve so goes hand-in-hand with Gemba.
While it also relates to process manufacturing I see no reason why we cannot implement Kaizen in our own lives. If we are able to continuously improve ourselves, us being the place where the value is added we will be moving forward and never go backwards.
Photos by Science in HD and carlos aranda on Unsplash
shaune bouwer talks everything value 