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Continuous improvement, or "Kaizen", is a method for identifying opportunities for streamlining work and reducing waste. The practice was formalized by the popularity of Lean / Agile / Kaizen in manufacturing and business, and it is now being used by thousands of companies all over the world to identify savings opportunities. Many of these ideologies can be combined for excellent results. 

I am mindful of how continuous improvement affects various parts of an organization and I examine practices and systems with resolve using the below steps:

1. Standardize: Come up with a process for a specific activity that's repeatable and organized.

2. Measure: Examine whether the process is efficient using quantifiable data, like time to complete, hours spent, etc.

3. Compare: Compare your measurements against your requirements. Does this process save time? Does it take too much time? Does it accomplish the desired result?

4. Innovate: Search for new, better ways to do the same work or achieve the same result. Look for smarter, more efficient routes to the same end-goal that boost productivity.

5. Standardize: Create repeatable, defined processes for those new, more efficient activities. 

6. Repeat: Go back to step one and start again.