Just One More Thing…

Just One More Thing…

How a couple of chores turned into an unexpected lesson about Kaizen.

I went into the garden this morning with two things to do.

Just two.

Nothing complicated. A little work, perhaps some dirt on my hands, and then back inside.

That was the plan.

But while working on the first task, I noticed something else that needed attention.

It wouldn’t take long.

So I took care of it.

Then I spotted another opportunity.

And another.

You know how this goes.

A few hours later, I had worked on practically the entire garden.

The original two tasks? Done.

And quite a few others that hadn’t even been on my mind when I stepped outside.

I was tired, sore, and looking at a garden that was probably better than when I started.

So, was it a successful morning?

Well… yes.

But it also made me laugh at myself.

I’ve spent years teaching people about Kaizen, priorities, and the importance of understanding what we’re trying to accomplish before jumping into solutions.

And there I was, following every new opportunity as if it had personally invited me to fix it.

Nobody had asked me to improve the entire garden.

Not even me.

That’s when I realized something.

Seeing an opportunity for improvement and deciding to act on it are two different things.

Sometimes, what we discover along the way deserves immediate attention.

Sometimes, it can wait.

And sometimes, we get so excited about improving things that we forget to ask whether this is where our time and effort are best spent.

Kaizen isn’t about fixing everything we notice.

It’s about learning to recognize what matters, understanding why it matters, and making deliberate choices about what to improve.

As for my garden?

It looks better.

My muscles disagree.

And tomorrow, I think I’ll make a list.

Although, knowing myself, I might end up improving the list, too.