Kaizening Comics

There’s a Japanese word, kaizen.

Which essentially means the tiniest step.  I’m paraphrasing.  Toyota used the principle of kaizen to build the world’s leading car factory model.  They inched their way to it. Like baby steps, but more excruciating in their minuteness. You don’t “clean the bathroom”.  You kaizen that shit.

Which means, during the next commercial, you slowly come up to a seated position on the sofa. That’s step one. That COUNTS.  Wasn’t that easy?  We’ll go for standing at the next commercial, if you’re up to it.

It would take you about a week to clean the bathroom this way, and you’re thinking, how the hell did the Japanese manage to build up Toyota so quickly?

There’s a trick.  You’re so busy being sold on the philosophy of the tiny step, so ready to celebrate your smallest victory (I changed the toilet paper roll!) that you keep going.  You can’t help yourself. You’re ecstatic.  How easy it seems, now!  Well, I’ll just do one more thing, you think.  I’m already here, right?  I’ll just tidy up the sink.  Before you know it, you’re on your hands and knees scrubbing the bowl, and you’re feeling all casual and content about it.  That’s kaizen.  I’d feel manipulated, if it hadn’t been my idea to pick up the toilet brush.

We can kaizen comics.

Got a job?  Got a kid?  Got a drinking problem?  You can still make comics.  You can still share them.  Inch your way into them.  You don’t need fancy paper, fancy pens, a free day, a free hour.  You don’t need a drafting table, you don’t even need a desk.  You can lie in bed with a ball point pen and a half used notebook and make comics while watching Craig Ferguson.  Make comics while waiting for your work day to end, your kid to eat their vegetables, your drinking problem to magically resolve itself.

Some things take FOR-ever.  Comics don’t have to.  Take the tiniest step.  Do it, share it.