Kaizen: The Miracle of Small Steps
In western society, there is a large preference for anything big. We like to have the largest skyscrapers, largest houses, and biggest car possible. In America, size is a virtue. And it is prevalent in fast food too, with “super size meals” and the Double Big Gulp (64 ounces!) from 7-Eleven.
And this preference extends to change as well. We love big changes. Americans love to revolutionize just about anything. We are proud of the American revolution. And whenever we have a problem, we like to make huge changes to get rid of it. Like starving ourselves to lose weight.
But big revolutions are not so popular in the east. In countries such as Japan and China, small steps are revered. As in the fable of the turtle and the hare, small steps can be the keys to success. The reason that small steps lead to big results is quite surprising.
When we make a tiny change, we cannot see the results right away. Since human beings experience only the present, we conclude (at least unconsciously) that the change had no effect. But the truth is that the change may have had a massive effect. We just have not seen the results yet. Yet!
Suppose you wanted to improve a skill just a little bit each day. Maybe the skill is reading. Or communicating. Or improving our financial situation. Or even your health. How much time and energy would it take to improve by a tiny amount, say 1%? I would suggest to you that you could improve by 1% in just about anything in less than 30 minutes.
And, what if you chose to do that just once per day? After a year, what would the result be? Many people say it would be 365%, because there are 365 days in a year.
Surprisingly, the result is 3,700%! How is this possible? This happens because the 1% compounds. Every small improvement magnifies all the previous improvement.
So what? So, words read only benefit when turned to action. So, if there were one small thing you could do, so small that it would only improve the situation by 1%, what would it be? What could happen if you chose to do it today?
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- Automated Trading and Kaizen
- Kaizen and the Japanese Automakers
- How To Declare Your Own Financial Independence In Four Steps
- The Internet Miracle: Perez Hilton
- Chicken Steps For The Entrepreneurial Soul
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is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
