Chapter One - Why Kaizen Works

Question 1

Attempts to reach goals through radical or revolutionary means often fail because they _______.

Answer 1

heighten fear

Question 2

But the small steps of kaizen _______ the brain’s fear response, stimulating _______ and _______.

Answer 2

1. disarm
2. rational thought
3. creative play

Question 3

The _______ wakes you up in the morning, sends you off to sleep at night, and reminds your heart to beat.

Answer 3

reptilian brain

Question 4

The _______ or _______ regulates the body’s internal temperature, houses our emotions, and governs the fight-or-flight response that keeps us alive in the face of danger.

Answer 4

1. midbrain
2. mammalian brain

Question 5

The ______ wraps around the rest of the brain and is responsible for the miracle of being human.

Answer 5

cortex

Question 6

The amygdala (a-MIG-duh-luh) is absolutely crucial to our survival because it controls the _______.

Answer 6

fight-or-flight response

Question 7

The amygdala (a-MIG-duh-luh) _______ other functions such as _______ that could interfere with the physical ability to run or fight.

Answer 7

1. slows down or stops
2. rational and creative thinking

Question 8

_______ goal ➞ fear ➞ _______ ➞ failure

Answer 8

1. large
2. access to cortex restricted

Question 9

_______ goal ➞ fear bypassed ➞ _______ ➞ success

Answer 9

1. small
2. cortex engaged

Question 10

The little steps of kaizen are a kind of ______ solution to this quality of the brain. Instead of spending years in counseling to understand why you’re afraid of looking great or achieving your professional goals, you can use kaizen to _______.

Answer 10

1. stealth
2. go around or under these fears

Question 11

By taking small steps, you effectively _____ so that it does the following:

• “unsticks” you from a creative block
• bypasses the fight-or-flight response
• _______ so that the brain enthusiastically takes over the process of change and you progress _______

Answer 11

1. rewire your nervous system
2. creates new connections between neurons
3. rapidly toward your goal

Question 12

Who said ““Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”?

Answer 12

Mark Twain

Question 13

What must we do instead of raging at ourselves when we fail at a goal?

Answer 13

Acknowledge the fear and its effects on us and take a small step towards the goal

Question 14

With kaizen fears may be faced, and even _______.

Answer 14

transformed