You’re probably thinking to yourself that the correct spelling is “Keyser” Söze instead of “Kaizen” Söze. Although the movie is the kind of a movie a blog could be written about, this isn’t about that. This blog is about the word Kaizen.
Kaizen is a Japanese word that means a system of continuous improvement. This system includes continues improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety, and leadership. Kaizen is a philosophy that provides peace of mind for anyone in any trade and in any economy.
Put simply, Kaizen means constantly improving in all areas of your life. You may not be great in sales or as an entrepreneur; you might not be the best father, husband, brother, or sister; or you might not be great at cooking or taking care of your body. But wherever you are weak, you can improve. You won’t ever be perfect; but as long as you’re improving on a daily basis, you will have very little to worry about. Kaizen is a way of life.
This blog would be pointless if you finished reading it and walked away only thinking about watching The Usual Suspects. The purpose of this blog is to encourage you to make a list of things that you can do right away to start improving all aspects of your life and commit to acting on that list. This certainly is not easy, or else everyone would be constantly improving and we wouldn’t be where we are today as a nation. Kaizen challenges us to take responsibility for our lives and find out how WE can improve instead of expecting our spouse, our neighbor, our boss, our parents, the economy, our customers, or our relatives to improve. You’ll know you’re living a life committed to Kaizen when your relatives start saying things like “I don’t recognize you anymore” or “you’ve changed.” Remember: These are compliments.
So in closing, my challenge to you is to be an “Unusual Suspect” instead of a “Usual Suspect.”
