Customer Reviews

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am not a fan of self-help books, but this parcel of wisdom is an exception. Dr. Maurer gently guides you through a whole new way of perceiving your life, and towards the path to making those improvements you've been putting off indefinitely. The key? Baby steps. Sounds so simple, and it is. But you'll want to read Dr. Maurer's explanation for WHY this works, and HOW you can make it work for you. Forget about doing 20 pushups -- get down on the floor and do ONE. Floss ONE tooth. I'm oversimplifying, but that's the point -- Dr. Maurer encourages you to take monumental tasks and break them down into small manageable digestable morsels. Big problems? He teaches you how to ask small questions that will get them solved. I can't do justice to the genius of his presentation. This is well organized material, based on a series of lectures he has delivered around the globe to big companies and small organizations -- as well as his experiences as a psychotherapist in private practice. It gets proven results. The writing is engaging, the quotes and anecdotes are entertaining, and instead of the usual vague advice one typically gleans from this genre, you'll learn from an abundance of scientific and historical evidence (entertainingly presented), as well as receive hardcore action steps that YOU can undertake today. You'll be looking at life through a whole new set of lenses -- and with less stress and more productivity. Most powerfully, it demonstrates how each one of us can dramatically affect not only our own lives, but also exert positive influence over those around us. Buy a copy for yourself, and another batch as gifts for your friends, family, and colleagues. It's that good! Enjoy!

The philosophy of small can produce big results. The topic of this book is how the big things in your life, your business, your relationships are really no more than a series of very small things. The key to change is the ability to make the minute course corrections over time, not big changes all at once.

The book starts with some great examples of how our mindset typically works when faced with major change or obstacles. We freeze. We are unable to grasp the enormity of what is required and therefore have less likelihood of success. The strategy is then in breaking the situation down to smaller segments and executing them. For example, anyone can exercise three minutes a day. Now by itself this won't change your life, but what if three turns into ten, ten into twenty, twenty into thirty? Now major change is underway.

The other essential element to this approach is the ability to understand root causes. This is a critical step in any Quality effort in business, but is also just as relevant and perhaps more important in life. Start by asking small questions. These will eventually lead to the root or core issues to be addressed.

The other sections lead from these basic premises. Take small actions, for example. Once the problem or change desired is broken down into smaller segments, don't try to change all at once. Take small steps and watch them grow. I think a big reason this is so difficult to do, is that many of us hard charging type-A types lack the patience to allow change to happen through the one step at a time mindset, and want to rush it all at once. We do so often with faster results that over time achieve less, and therefore in the end are in fact slower than if we were patient to begin with.

I found this book to be very enlightening. It presents wisdom that is common sense, yet rarely acted upon. I have tried several of the techniques and found them to be very helpful. I recommend this book highly. A small investment that could pay off in a big way.

Because I have several criticisms of this book, I should say at the outset that I found it helpful and worth purchasing. Stripped to its essence, Dr. Maurer's program consists of taking a series of very small incremental steps towards self-improvement instead of taking on the entire project with one gulp. Good advice, and it works. While he engages in the typical doctor/author approach of telling little stories about his patients (Do doctors all go to the same "Famous Authors School?"), his stories are shorter and more to the point than those of others. Overall, I found the book to be helpful.

Now for the criticisms:

1. This is not a book about Kaizen, which is a collection of Japanese manufacturing techniques involving the elimination of waste, Just In Time delivery, production load leveling, standardized work, paced moving lines, and right-sized equipment. There is some small overlap with the program described by Dr. Maurer, but his is aimed at personal improvement and is much simpler.

2. Like many doctor/authors, Dr. Maurer suugests that he has found the solution to all of the reader's problems, the key to the universe, rather than a simple, useful tool.

3. The book is way too long. Fortunately, there are chapter summaries at the end of each chapter for those who prefer a quick read. An executive summary at the beginning of the book would be a welcome addition.

Readers who would like to see how the same approach can be applied to business should consider The Mind Of The Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business by Konichi Ohmae, one of the few great business books.

I LOVE this book. Finally, I don't have to feel disappointed in myself when I set large goals for myself and try to complete them in a short time and fail. Now I understand why. It's a GREAT way to achieve my goals with ease. I have heard of Deming in my engineering classes, and I am glad that Mr. Maurer have found a way to adapt it to our personal lives. A MUST READ for those who have goals they've always wanted to achieve, but stumbled along the way.

I read a good deal of self improvement literature and this work is one of the best. If you've tried dozens of New Year's Resolutions that have failed, or if you just can't make headway in living a healthy lifestyle, this book can provide you with an alternative approach that isn't about positive thinking or affirmations. The Science of Small Steps is a system that fools your brain into forgetting the fear of failure and other self-sabotaging tendencies that hijack your efforts. I've used the system to help me make progress in business and on the personal front. I've been able to develop positive habits like regular exercise and flossing my teeth by utilizing this system. The book is well-organized, easy to read and interesting.

Good book that explains an important life principle, and you can read it in one sitting ! How nice is that ? Actually, the thing works. I went to sleep the other night thinking about an issue and woke up with one small "solution" this morning. My mind was clearly mulliing over the small question I asked myself. Instead of asking my mind to solve one huge issue - which might have given me nightmares - I asked it to solve a small, non-threatening problem, and it came up with a nice solution. That is what the author is saying.

I think one good example would be that Apollo 13 mission that went bad. If Mission Control had "thought big", the astronauts would have been toast (literally). The first thing they did was say, "what small step can we now take". And after that, what is the next step, etc. etc. etc.... until a solution was there.

Or think of a baseball batter: do you swing for the fence, or try to do one small thing at the plate, which can often result in something "big" ? Thinking "big" is overrated in U.S. culture, as the author states. Small solutions are vastly underrated in our culture. For instance, I love watching "small ball" baseball, rather than the "swing for the fence" stuff.

Good book that I will use often.

I'm guilty of being a quitter. I'm constantly setting goals... goals that will "change my life" like creating a budget, excercising, eating healthy, and quitting smoking. But more often than not, I give in when it actually comes down to taking the steps to reach these goals.

After reading this book, I've been able to break my goal into small, reachable steps - which after completing, motivate me to take the next step. By using this simple but important practice, I've already seen myself accomplish "big" life transformation goals, which I've given up in the past.

This book is a quick read, but a very powerful lesson. I am so thankful I came across this book!

Dr. Maurer's book combines kaizen, the Japanese business model of incremantal but steady improvement, with a self-help book. This book is easy to read (I read it in one day) and is packed with ideas for personal improvement. The heart of kaizen is that a drastic improvement in behavior (such as going from a sedentary lifestyle to exercising an hour a day) is daunting, but a small change in behavior is easy (going from a sedentary lifestyle to four minutes of vigorous exercise a day). The only reason that I did not give it five stars is because I wish that the book was longer with more examples of kaizen for individuals.

Dr. Maurer's enlightening book presents simple steps to happiness by participating in life on the level your cortex is ready for. In fact, his teachings show you how to train your brain. This book shows how easy it is to quit resisting the pain and excuses created around starting a new exercise regimen, asking that person out for coffee, going in to that boss and asking for a raise, etc. Check it out!

How refreshing to read a book about success instead of failure! This is a great book that actually helps you change without being held back by fear. I totally recommend this book! Buy it to make your life better, buy it for all your friends and relatives!