My youngest daughter, who turns 1 this coming weekend, recently took her first steps and is a much happier little girl as a result.

My wife and I think she just wanted to go, go, go as she watched her older brother and sisters run around and play. Now she can join them and seems to be delighted because of it.

A Long Journey

But here’s the thing. It took her almost 12 months, and a tremendous amount of effort, to figure this walking stuff out.

Sure we helped her by propping her up and demonstrating how to walk by doing it ourselves. But, in the end, she did it her herself by improving a little bit everyday.

To be sure, it didn’t happen overnight and neither will the transformations of our companies or organizations.

Let’s Get Lean!

I see this all the time. People read a book about lean or six sigma and learn some new terms and decide that their company is going to “get lean” or something to this effect.

And while dreaming big like this isn’t bad… in fact I think it’s great… we must all take small steps as we progress on this never ending journey called continuous improvement.

Small Steps 3 Month Roadmap

So, here are a few suggested ideas that might help you make, or accelerate, your journey over the next 3 months.

• Find someone else interested in continuous improvement you can talk to and learn with. Let’s call this person your CI partner. Use me if you don’t have anyone.
• Learn something new every week for the next 3 months and explain what you’ve learned to your CI partner at the end of the week over coffee, beer, or some other beverage of choice.
• Plan and execute 5 kaizen events over the next 3 months. Get help from others if you need it.
• Teach at least 10 people something each month for the next 3 months. If you can teach something well, meaning people have learned, you really understand the topic. The training that is part of a typical kaizen event is an excellent time to accomplish this task.
• Make something better each and every day for the next 3 months. It doesn’t have to be a big thing but something should be better than it was when you arrived.

There is more

Obviously, this list is not all encompassing… but it’s a start. So, if you haven’t already started, or perhaps things have stalled a bit for you, give these ideas a try for the next 3 months and check back in to tell us how it goes.

Also, be sure to check back in 3 months as I’ll have some more ideas on what to do at that point in time. You can subscribe to the blog here or by email at the end of this article to make sure you don’t miss anything!

What do you think?

What do you think of my list? Do you like it? Do you hate it? What would you do differently?

Are you, or have you ever been, in a slump?

Do you ever find yourself feeling unmotivated, uninspired, and just flat out crappy?

Or maybe you feel a little overwhelmed as there is so much to do and you’re not sure where to start? Sound familiar?

I can definitely relate as I’ve been there – both personally and professionally.

With this said, here are a few tips I’d like to offer to help you climb out of the pits.

And, as always, I would love to hear your thoughts on how you deal with these lulls life sometimes throws at us.

1. Tidy Up Workplace

There is something powerful about a clean and organized workplace. Oftentimes, when I am feeling low and uninspired, I find myself surrounded by a messy desk, office, etc.

Some good old 5S can go a long way to help. Just focus all your attention on clearing out the items you don’t need, then cleaning and straightening the things that are left, while doing your best to understand how to keep it this way.

If you hit it hard for even 10 minutes you’ll be amazed how much better you’ll feel as your work area becomes simplified and less chaotic.

2. Tidy Up Computer

If your email inbox is full of unread messages you need to clean it out. Down to zero. Yes, zero emails in your inbox. This might require batch processing but I won’t think less of you if you do batch this.

Also, if your computer’s Desktop is full of files and icons you need to “sort” this out. In other words, clear out the files and icons you don’t need. Just press delete. It’ll be OK.

And for the files you just can’t bring yourself to get rid of… create a logical folder structure and place them there.

3. Identify Top Tasks

Now that your workplace and computer have been organized… it’s time to focus in on those tasks.

Specifically, it’s time to list out everything you need to get done on a piece of paper or some electronic form (I use Google Tasks).

Once you have all the tasks listed out – both small and large – it’s time to prioritize them.

Each day you should have 2 to 3 “top tasks” that must be completed before everything else.

In fact, if you find yourself working on another task – when a top task is not yet done – you should ask yourself why and do something about it.

4. Manage Your Tasks

Now that you’ve gained some control over things it’s time to buckle down and manage the dickens out of those tasks.

Start with your “top tasks” and work them one at a time. Try to not multi-task as this rarely works well.

Again, this is why I like to use Google Tasks as I can check things off as I complete them which gives me a sense of accomplishment and motivates me to keep going.

5. Reflect

Finally, it’s important to reflect on what you’ve accomplish each week.

To do this, take at least 5 minutes at the end of the week to review the things you’ve gotten done while asking yourself how you could have done better. This is hansei at its best.

But be sure to feel good about what you’ve accomplished. It’s OK to celebrate and be proud of all the things you’ve achieved.

What do you think?

Do you agree with this list? What do you do you do to climb out of the proverbial slump?