What does business change have to learn from Japanese thinking?

We often approach change like it’s a project. Define the scope. Set the goals. Hit the target. Finish the job.

But what if change isn’t a project? What if it’s a practice?

Reading Rik Vera’s reflections on Japanese thinking reminded me how deeply Western business change is shaped by finality: transformation programmes with end dates, deliverables, and outcomes that must be owned and measured.

In contrast, Japanese philosophies like kaizen invite a different mindset – not 'change management' but ongoing changing. Not a noun, but a verb. A flow.

In today’s uncertain, complex world, maybe our job isn’t to drive change but to tend it. To become stewards of emergence, not builders of conclusions.

Because not everything valuable in business can be finished. Some things are meant to continually evolve.