Never stop improving.
There are terms associated with the process of making upward progress: I think of it as a self-sustained upward cycle where the success of one stage feeds the next stage, and so on and so on, exponentially. You may have also seen that idea expressed through these terms:
- Continual Improvement
- Continuous Improvement
- Perpetual Beta
When it comes to companies, plenty of models and theories offer guidance on having an ever-evolving business that responds to changes in trends and remains viable and competitive over the long run.
When it comes to personal optimization and excellence, there are a million-billion theories and self-helps books and… there’s no ONE answer. We’re all just trying our best, and some of us share interesting and new ways to approach achieving that goal.
I look for solutions that anyone can connect with, the universal themes of success. in my experience, when concepts are connected to more-enlightened, “higher” guiding principles, they seem to work better – they speak more to our nature as humans and less to the fractured ways which people have created to explain our existence.
No matter the term used or where it’s applied, there are some commonalities of success and transcendent lessons we can use:
Feedback
The core principle of constant development is inward-facing reflection. Feedback tells us if our processes are effective, and can help us pinpoint where to focus attention for the next, most-immediate action.
Efficiency
The purpose of these approaches is to identify, reduce, and eliminate suboptimal processes. Whether you’re dealing with a company or a life, you don’t want to waste any of your resources (time, energy, etc).
Evolution
Improvements are based on many small changes rather than radical ones. Small improvements are less likely to require major investment than major process changes, but – built up – create lasting and impactful shifts.