Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, 
Make the mighty ocean. And the pleasant land

That’s the underlying philosophy behind Kai-Zen : Change for the Better

Such small/ Micro changes, can help improve the Processes, People or the Product & Services that the Team produces or renders.

A Carrot & Stick approach helps initially, with the low hanging fruits. In due course of time, it loses its ability to engage or motivate individuals. Teams and Organizations that encourage improvements, without overbearing individuals with targets, will go a long way in inculcating such culture.

The Literal translation from Japanese (contextually) has been Change for the Better. But Kai ( Change ) Zen (Meditate) if we take the split. we could also infer that we can identify improvement opportunities, if we take the efforts to Ruminate over the Problem.

So how do we set up such processes & mechanisms that encourage small improvements ?? How do we sustain that behavior over time ?? Can we measure the value from such improvements ?? Should they be measured ??