Kaizen and Peribahasa Melayu (Malay Proverb)

I mentioned about Kaizen in my previous post, of which Kaizen is the Japanese method for transforming habits one small step at a time.  Through the Kaizen concept, Japanese are encouraged to formulate their own goals and work towards achieving the goals at their own pace.  Mr Masaaki Imai states that

‘The Kaizen philosophy assumes that our way of life – be it our working life, our social life, or our home life – deserves to be constantly improved’.

Imai, Misaaki. (1986).  KAIZEN: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success.  New York:  McGraw Hill: 3.

I would like to relate this concept of Kaizen to a Malay proverb, which is belakang parang kalau diasah pasti akan tajam, which means  even the back of a machete can be sharp if we keep on sharpen it.  Like Kaizen, the  message of the proverb is we can achieve our goal, no matter how impossible we think it is,  if we work on it bit by bit.

Kaizen

Just bought a new book entitled Kaizen.  Kaizen is the Japanese method for transforming habits one small step at a time.  I have not read the book and it is still nicely wrapped.  But what intrigues me is that a colleague from Academy of Islamic Civilisation, UTM wrote a beautiful quote on his FB wall which has a similar meaning .  The quote is

Hidup jangan berlari

Cukuplan kita berjalan

kerana hidup ini bukan perlarian

tapi hidup ini adalah perjalanan

(Credit to PM Dr Ajmain Safar)

The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

Stephen Covey

This quote is good to hold on whenever we have a lot of things to do simultaneously.  Most academicians now live by the day and it is crucai for them to practise multitasking.  To keep on living, we get things done based on priorities and our priorities are based on deadlines.

 

Anyone can become angry – that is easy.  But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not easy.

Aristotle