Continuous improvement system?

[syilla]

:salamext:

Bismillahirramanirahim.

This is my advise not only to you...but to myself too.

Lets implement the continuous improvement system by joining Islam and InshaAllah we will excell.

Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use ofa very small portion of their possible consciousness, and oftheir soul@resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, shouldget into the habit of using and moving only his littlefinger Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed. -WilliamJames

Quality and productivity improvements have been considered as one of the most important aspects of the production process in any organisation, particularly in the modern industrialised societies, especially since the second World War.
Whether, the organisation is involved in the production of tangible goods or the intangible services, quality and productivity have been assumed to be the
prerequisites for attaining the highest competitive advantage. Whilst quality clearly reflects the genuine concern of the producers to meet at least the customers' needs or requirements or more generally their demands or satisfaction, productivity entails the reduction in cost or the improvement in technical and economic efficiencies.

The difference between the Japanese and the Americans, in particular, is that the Japanese put tremendous emphasis on the individual worker, his attitude, his loyalty, his passion for quality, technology and productivity, and above all, his service to the customer both in terms of product quality as well as after sales service.
The whole business, whether in the realms of planning, budgeting, production,
marketing, etc. must have inherent human content. For example, product quality must be such that it must exceed the customers' expectations. The technology they developed are meant to produce products and services which would meet the demands (and not simply the needs) of the customers. When both these approaches are combined, they provide the competitive edge or the niche which is difficult to surpass. It all boils down to the question of attitude and not simply the techniques.

The west, on the other hand, has been so engrossed in personal accomplishments through their technological innovations as well as through their creative management techniques and ideas on leadership. In both cases the human element lies in the minds of the innovator, the producer, the manager for their own satisfaction rather than for the satisfaction of the consumers or the customers. Again, this is also the question of attitude, but an erroneous one.

Here some of the islam techniques for continuous improvement.

• self assessment (Muhasabah) -A Muslim is enjoined to frequently (daily at least) evaluate his good and bad (if any) deeds. Having realized how little he has achieved for the day, he should also plan in detail what he needs to achieve for the next day. By so doing, he would be able to ensure that all his duties are performed on time and in the best possible manner. "It behooves any sane person to have four periods of time" and one of the four periods is "a period in which he engages in self-criticism." (hadith)
  - The Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar bin al-Khattab says: "Criticize and appraise yourselves before you are criticized and appraised on the Day of Judgment, and weigh out your deeds, before they are weighed out for you."
  - "On that Day will men proceed in groups, sorted out, to be shown their Deeds. Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it." (Qur'an 99:6-8)
  

• Good intention. Every action (good deed) should be accompanied by clear intention(objective). It is this objective which will govern the manner in which
  one performs his task. If he is aware that striving for livelihood is a form of worship, he should treat his act of striving for livelihood as such. This will obviously make him a better employee. He should perform his duties in the most excellent manner. He should be honest and sincere in undertaking his tasks. Similarly, if the principles and procedures laid down by the employer are meant to improve quality and productivity, the intention he should have is not merely to perform his tasks as required, but that he should intend to be a productivity and quality conscious person himself.
  
  In Surah al-Nisa Ayah 114, Allah says: "There is no good in most of their secret talks except one who exhorts to a good deed of charity or goodness or conciliation between people. To him who does this seeking the pleasure of Allah, We shall soon give him a reward of high value."

• Do more. Islam demands its adherents to do more than what is minimally required. A Quranic verse enjoins thus: "Verily God demands that you establish justice and be efficient and proficient". The Quranic term ihsan which is normally taken to mean proficiency or efficiency can also be interpreted to mean "the performing of some task more than what is minimally required". This implies that a good Muslim will always feel obliged to put in extra effort, extra time (not overtime), extra interest to ensure that he would provide more than what is legally or minimally required of him. This interpretation augurs well with the concept of productivity and quality which requires genuine interest and commitment to improve all the time. One cannot be complacent with simply achieving zero defect, for example, but one should try to achieve it in shorter time, or lower cost, etc.
  
  Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr:
  
  Allah's Apostle said to me, "Recite the whole Qur'an in one month's time." I said, "But I have power (to do more than that)." Allah's Apostle said, "Then finish the recitation of the Qur'an in seven days, and do not finish it in less than this period."

• Role Model. Islam also demands that all its adherents should take His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as his role model. This is again a very strong motivation for Muslims to perform his tasks in the most excellent manner. Aishah being asked about the Prophet’s manners. Her answer was simple: “His manners were the Qur’an.”

• Be skillful and dilligent. A Muslim is also encouraged to undertake all tasks skilfully and diligently. This is a reflection of one of the Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sayings which is obviously obligatory on every Muslim. There is no place for unskilled or slip shod work in Islam. 7-8. So when thou art free (from anxiety), work hard, And make thy Lord thy exclusive object.-Al-Inshirah

• Excellence (Al-ihsaan) A Muslim is also enjoined to strive towards excellence all the time.Excellence is something which is infinite. There is no limit to excellence. One should attempt to improve himself however much he has excelled.
  
  “it’s to worship Allah as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you." This is the Prophet’s definition of the term “Ihsan”, and it signifies that a person, who is characterized with Ihsan, does everything perfectly as he sees his MASTER watching him.

• God-consciousness (Taqwa) is the core of taqwa because God-consciousness is acknowledging, feeling, and realizing God’s presence at all times, and knowing that He is looking after you and knows what you are doing and even what your soul whispers to you. This feeling results in trying to go through life according to God’s orders and being ashamed of doing wrong in His presence, which is at all times.
  
  `Umar compared being God-conscious to a person going through a narrow path with thorns while he is trying to snatch his clothes in order to protect himself from any harm.

• Ignoring things thats not concern him (according to Islam). Sometimes we as human tend to get worried in every small matter eventhough it does not concern us. This will hinder ones from performing excellence.
  
  “A sign of one’s excellence in his Islam, is ignoring what does not concern him.”
  Related by Ahmad, Malik & At-Tirmithi

• Constantly seek for forgiveness (Taubah)
  
  If a normal person commits a sin, by his words, by deeds or even by feelings he will naturally feel deep inside him that he did something wrong. This realisation makes him feel the need to repent and seek forgiveness for his mistake and to repair the damage done or compensate for the error. To know the importance of repentance in every human life, imagine if Allah did not set a way for us to reach back to Him. What kind of frustration will be inside a person who has committed a lot of sins and mistakes in his life and has no way out? Do you think he will be at peace or comfortable for the rest of his life? He will probably destroy himself and those around him.
  Allah’s Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:
  Do not wish for death, for the terror of the place whence one looks down is severe. It is part of a man’s happiness that his life should be long and Allah Who is Great and Glorious, should supply him with repentance. [Ahmed]

• Being humble. Most people does not realise the power of 'humbleness'. Don't they know being humble, you will have more friends? Don't they know that being humble will make you want to improve yourself more? What is exactly the power of arrogance?
  
  

  What if a person does have edge over another person in measurable worldly terms? How then can he not consider himself superior than the other person in that respect? The point is sometimes made in half jest: it is difficult to be humble when you are so great. Islam does not ask us to reject reality and imagine we don’t have what we really do. Rather it asks us to take a deeper look at the reality and not be misled by a superficial perception of it. And the simple reality that escapes many is that our health, wealth, talents, and power are not of our own creation. God gave those to us as a test and He can take them back whenever He wills. Those who are conscious of this reality, their blessings will produce gratitude in them; those who are blind to it will develop pride and arrogance.

for further reading
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics...?ArticleID=570
http://youth.ibn.net/islam3.asp?ID=14
http://vlib.unitarklj1.edu.my/staff-...uk/Nst8jan.pdf
http://www.load-islam.com/artical_de...scover%20Islam
http://www.gawaher.com/index.php?showtopic=6480
http://www.albalagh.net/general/kibr.shtml

[khushnood]

jazakAllah for such a beautiful post,ukhtun.

[Keltoi]

Does this mean I shouldn't look to Mike Tyson as a role model? Sorry...little joke.