This is quite a small book, quick and easy to read BUT is probably the one book that has had the biggest impact on my business. My friend Donna (the training guru I went to Australia to train with last year) sent it to me ages ago, and I confess the title put me off “One small step can change your life, the Kaizen way” and so it took me a while to get round to reading it. Big mistake!
You see I’ve always been one for the big idea, the big project, the big new product range, getting the big break, and I thought that needed huge actions to make them happen.
It seems I might have been wrong.
What’s it all about?
This book is all about the Japanese principle of Kaizen, which means “continuous improvement”.
The idea is that lots of small steps, small incremental changes, taken consistently is an incredibly effective way to reach even the hugest of goals and dreams. And you can apply the principles to literally any area of your business or your life. (It works really well for exercise)
And it’s one of the most effective ways to get change into your business. Getting your staff to buy into where you want to take your business is so much easier when you apply this principle of small steps. It’s a technique that works brilliantly for product and service innovation too. I challenge you to not be able to find an idea that could make a big difference to your business.
So I’ve been applying this for about 7 months now, and my small consistent steps have been writing a blog every week, regularly sponsoring certain business events, getting a regular column in the Business Post, showing up regularly at the right events, keeping in touch with people, constantly researching and learning more about finance. And I have to say after 14 years in business I’ve made more progress in 7 months than I ever did before when I was chasing “the big one”
Next week I’ll be talking about how we can apply these small but continual steps to constantly improve your profitability and your cashflow. Very powerful stuff.
I do hope you’ll read this one; it’s a real game changer. And here’s the link to Amazon, and it’s just £2.32 on the kindle, so there’s no excuse!
One small step can change your life – the Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer