Book Review: One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way
By Robert Maurer, Ph.D.
Workman Publishing, New York, 2004
Reviewed by Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.
" Kaizen and innovation are the two major strategies people use to create change. Where innovation demands shocking and radical reform, all Kaizen asks is that you take small, comfortable steps toward improvement." (p. 13)
Lao Tzu said "A Journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step." In One Small Step Can Change Your Life, author, business consultant and behavioral health instructor, Robert Maurer tells his readers that small steps lead to big results. His simple tenet is that we can bring about behavioral change, pursue personal growth, and accomplish large projects simply by starting with small, doable, steps, and by making steady progress and continuous improvement.
Maurer draws from the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician who was instrumental in helping rebuild Japan’s business/manufacturing infrastructure following World War II. Deming's philosophy was that Japanese businesses could regain a foothold in the world economy through small, ongoing improvements in quality and efficiency, in a work environment where all employees could offer suggestions and point out defects, and where teamwork and cooperation were encouraged. The Japanese named the concept "“Kaizen."
Maurer believes that businesses, groups, and individuals can benefit from the Kaizen way. His theory is that when humans attempt large-scale, revolutionary change, a fear response is triggered in the brain. As part of our evolutionary, survival mechanism, the brain registers an alarm whenever we deviate significantly from our usual safe routines. This response is the "flight or fight" response associated with stress- and change is often stressful. This fear response shuts down creativity and concentration.
Small changes, on the other hand, sidestep the fear response, allowing the brain to accommodate the new response, laying down new neural pathways while we build new habits. Even when it comes to eliminating our bad habits, like addictions, overeating, or compulsive spending, Maurer recommends that instead of going "cold turkey", we should taper off gradually, thereby avoiding feelings of deprivation that often lead to relapse. Here are six strategies for bringing Kaizan into your life:
- Ask small questions to dispel fear and inspire creativity.
- Think small thoughts to develop new skills and habits---without moving a muscle. This is tried and true method of mental rehearsal.
- Take small actions that guarantee success. It’s easier to take small steps that take little time, effort, or expense, rather than attempt a massive overhaul, all at once.
- Solve small problems, even when you are faced with overwhelming crisis.
- Bestow small rewards on yourself and others to produce best results.
- Recognize the small but crucial moments that everyone else ignores.
There are several good tips in this book for therapists, coaches and teachers, showing helping professionals how to teach others to concept of taking small steps toward any goal or outcome. Small steps are easier to accommodate, they are less overwhelming than giant leaps, and they allow us to experience small, initial successes that whet the appetite for additional progress. Small steps keep us from making huge mistakes or over-committing. They might also provide feedback for determining the next decision or action. Small steps are doable.
This is a book I will recommend to colleagues and clients. While much of this book is common sense, Maurer packages that common sense in way that holds attention, with practical examples, quotes by well-known people that reflect the Kaizen approach, and stories of success achieved when people chunk a big task down into small steps. One Small Step Can Change Your Life provides a counterpoint to our society's philosophical tendency to super-size everything we do, with exhortations to “go all the way" and “be all you can be." How many people fail to act because they are immobilized by the enormity of a challenge, or because they think that a small gesture is too insignificant to make a difference? Perhaps what we really need is the humility to realize that to make even a small contribution or a small advancement is better than doing nothing at all.
Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D. is a licensed counselor, psychotherapist and life coach practicing in Springfield, Virginia. She is certified in hypnotherapy, and is a Master Practitioner/Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She is Executive Director of the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. She has recently published The Weight, Hypnotherapy, and You Weight Reduction Program: An NLP and Hypnotherapy Practitioner Manual. Her web site is www.engagethepower.com.