One Small Step Can Change Your Life The Kaizen Way,
by Robert Maurer, PhD

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step.  Lao Tzu

Book Review
By Jean Caton MS,MBA,RD
Leadership, Career, Life Coach, & Speaker

Download Teleseminar Audio Here

I selected this book because in my coaching practice when I speak to groups  at networking events, and conferences, I continue to meet people who have challenges making the changes in their life they seem to sincerely want to make.  They procrastinate, or they make a changes and slide back, or don’t even try anymore because they have ‘failed’ so many times.

So if you procrastinate, get overwhelmed, or have ever set a goal that you have failed to achieve – read on.  It is quite likely nearly all of us are somewhere on this list.

Let me begin by saying this book offers little new thinking on the process to achieve big goals by taking small bites, at the same time it is a must read because of the way the author gets you to think about this approach.   The approach reduces the conscious and unconscious fears and focuses on small.  Success in the small is the path to big impact. Fear is reduced, attitudes are improved, daunting large goals are replaced with slow and steady.  It is not a concept for the impatient.  It will fall on deaf ears for those seeking a ‘quick fix.’

Kaizen is a strategy for change based on the Japanese techniques for using very small, steady steps .  It was initially used in depression-era America for manufacturing quality.   Dr W. Edwards Deming, a statistician, is the name most frequently associated with this concept.  After the war the philosophy was introduced to the Japanese who were very receptive.  The approach was soon discarded in booming post war America and continued to be embraced  by the Japanese who gave the small step way the name Kaizen

The author takes the principles of method, originally intended for manufacturing organizations, and  makes the case it works as well for personal behaviour change.

Maurer’s pedigree includes a psychologist by trade and Associate Professor at UCLA School of Medicine, consultant, and instructor at Canyon Ranch in Tuscon,  reason enough for me to consider this book may be a worthwhile read.

Whether your goal it is to keep the house / office clean and neat, lose 20 pounds, a daunting work assignment, exercise 30 minutes daily, or a myriad of other ‘new years type’ resolutions this book offers a new and somewhat novel  approach.  The Kaizen Way is the 180 degree opposite of the ‘cold turkey’ /all or nothing way.  Rather than set a goal  to lose ten pounds by giving up your evening snacks, Maurer offer the example of throwing away the first bite only. Practice this same behaviour over and over. Then when you are ready do the same with the second bite and thirds and so forth.   Dreaded or overwhelming tasks seem so easy when you work on them this way.

The larger (and scarier) the goal, the more likely we are to procrastinate.  Chunking down the goal to really small chunks, focusing only on one small chunk at a time until you are ready to move ahead, is far more approachable.  Momentum builds as you acknowledge you success at sticking with walking 5 minutes daily for two weeks. No sore muscles or time excuses when you take this approach.

Chapter Highlights:

1. Why Kaizen Works – Fear of change is rooted in the brain physiology .  Fight or flight kicks in. Small (tiny) steps do not cause this mechanism to kick in and thereby allows success
2. Ask Small Questions – Small questions dispel fear and inspire creativity.  Example:  If health were my highest priority what one very small thing  would I be doing differently-today, right here -right now?
3. Think Small Thoughts – Mind sculpturing is the term the author uses for the small thoughts to imagine yourself doing the activity.  Lose weight while you day-dream? -not exactly.  Rather, train your brain and mentally rehearse.  Athletes have successfully used this approach.
4. Take Small Actions Success – is much more probable when the step is nearly insignificantly small.  Small wins are motivating.
5. Solve Small Problems – Rather than embarking on a large manufacturing (or life ) innovation what is a small change that can lead to a big impact?
6. Bestow Small Rewards – Data shows recognition and small rewards are significantly more motivating than large rewards.
7. Identify Small Moments – A flight attendant saved an  airline hundreds of thousands of dollars by noticing passengers were not eating the olives in the salad She recommended the food service discontinue olives.  As it turns out the airline paid by the number of items in the salad and the saving was big from such a small change.  Had the airline run a contest to see who could suggest the biggest innovation to save the airline big money, it is doubtful the flight attendant would have submitted the olive idea.
8. Kaizen for Life – The opposite of the boot camp mentality  (that has lasting results for a select few),  the Kaizen way lets the mind take the bigger leaps only when it is ready.

If you have a big task confronting you and are looking for a kick start, consider reading this book.  It is intriguing, motivating and may just get you moving!