I read two books over the holidays. The first was not exactly bedtime reading: "Double Cross" is the biography of Sam Giancana, the Chicago mobster. Giancana's nephew Sam and brother Chuck tell the story of how a young, physically abused immigrant's son in Chicago grew into most powerful mob boss in America. While there might be some elaborations, there are enough facts in the book to raise doubts about how things are really run in America. If Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" made you think twice about religions, then "Double Cross" will give you nightmares about politics, politicians and international affairs.

As I read the book, familiar names and bits of mob stories from my Dad's old Irish neighborhood in Chicago came to mind -- cars careened on two-wheels around corners with guns blazing, aldermen disappeared without a trace, and "you never saw nothin'."

However, when I started to think about the fire and emergency services' frustrations with the government and the Department of Homeland Security, my imagination went into overdrive. Why would a book about the Mafia make me cynical about the state of the fire and emergency services? Good question.

According to "Double Cross," you made things happen in political circles 40 or 50 years ago with money. Money begets power. What a concept!

The second book that I read was "One Small Step Can Change Your Life" by Robert Maurer, Ph.D. The book is about kaizen, a Japanese technique of achieving lasting success through small, but steady steps.

According to the book, the concept of "small steps for continual improvement" was first conceived in the early 1940s as American leaders had to meet production demands for tanks and equipment. The government created management courses called Training Within Industries, the beginning of what would become kaizen. Instead of demanding radical changes, the courses encouraged supervisors to look for hundreds of small ways to improve on existing jobs and equipment.

Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a statistician involved with TWI, ended up being invited to Japan to help with the country's economic efficiency and output. The small steps were so successful that the Japanese gave them the name kaizen (pronounced ky-zen), which means improvement.

The steps can be miniscule, but when repeated every day they can lead to bigger changes. Small steps are how Japan got where it is today. The suggestions in the book can be applied to business, career or personal goals; breaking bad habits or starting good habits.

Although I didn't know it at the time, kaizen principles helped me when I made a wrong turn and found myself perched atop a steep ski run at Elk Camp in Snowmass, Colo. "I can't ski this!" I cried. To which my husband replied, "Yes you can. We're going to cut it up into little pieces." Wide turns, long traverses -- and we did it.

With small steps, you can do anything.
Janet Wilmoth, Editor