Working Framework · DOCX · Czech
Kaizen: Small Steps — DOCX
Extended working framework for specifying tasks and working with AI.
How to break a change into small steps
Pick a single concrete difficulty, define a small change, and establish up front how you will review it. This allows you to advance work without reopening the entire project every time. This approach builds on Kaizen, continuous improvement.
Select a single difficulty
Start with a real situation: what recurs, who it complicates work for, and where the process gets stuck. Instead of "improve document handoff", write "a colleague has to look up the project reference number before starting review".
A brief description of current work, one concrete example, and information on what you are allowed to change is sufficient. The outcome will be a task specification for a single step with a clear endpoint. If you do not yet know why the difficulty occurs, your first step can be observation or interviewing the person doing the work.
Give the step clear boundaries
- Describe the intended benefit. What should become easier for a person after the change?
- Define the scope. Specify one part of the work to adjust and what must remain untouched.
- Establish completion and verification. Write down what will be complete and how you will evaluate benefits later.
- Agree on responsibilities. Who executes the step, who checks the outcome, and how will you revert if needed?
Evaluate step size based on whether it can be completed and verified independently. If it requires multiple additional decisions, resolve one of them first. Note down other ideas for future work.
Example: handing off documents for review
Model scenario: A team hands off documents in a shared folder. The reviewer occasionally searches for the project reference number in previous communications.
The first step can be:
"Add one line to the existing handoff instructions: Include the project reference number in the folder name. Test the new instruction with one colleague during the next five handoffs of the same type."
Keep the original instructions. The edit is complete when the line is added and the colleague knows how to use it. You verify the benefit during actual handoffs: record whether the reviewer had to look up the number and whether any new problem arose.
Five handoffs is the scope of this model test, not a universal rule. Completing the edit does not yet mean the work runs better.
Prepare the task with AI
Describe a single difficulty and available options. Remove personal and confidential data before pasting.
Help me prepare one small step to improve the described work process.
Base your output solely on the provided materials. Do not invent missing data.
If the problem or allowed scope is unclear, ask clarifying questions first.
Propose one step: what to adjust, what to preserve, when it is done,
and how to separately verify its benefits. Specify required agreements and revert option.
Keep the proposal within the specified boundaries. Briefly log other ideas for later.
Prepare only the task specification; do not perform the change or claim verified improvement.
CURRENT WORK PROCESS & SPECIFIC DIFFICULTY:
[Fill in]
WHAT WE WANT TO IMPROVE:
[Fill in]
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO CHANGE & WHAT MUST REMAIN:
[Fill in]
AVAILABLE TIME, PEOPLE & INPUTS:
[Fill in]
Check that the step can be closed
- Is it clear which difficulty you are solving and who the change helps?
- Can the step be completed without unresolved dependencies?
- Do you distinguish between a completed edit and a verified benefit?
- Do you have an agreed review process and a fallback/revert plan?
Upon completion, record what you did, what verification showed, and what next step follows. If a decision on the overall project goal is missing, define it first. Small adjustments alone do not determine the right direction.
Next steps
Explanation & prompt
How to verify that a change helped
Plan an experiment and decide based on findings.
Need to map the whole process first? Explore the guide Process first. Then AI.
On Kaizen: Lean Enterprise Institute — Kaizen. Example and prompt adaptation by BCH.