Caroline Arnold has been a technology leader on Wall Street for more than a decade, managing some of the financial world’s largest software development teams and leading some of the industry’s most visible and complex initiatives. A dynamic and engaging speaker, she has appeared before groups as large as 5,000 people. Caroline is a recipient of the Wall Street & Technology Award for Innovation for building the auction system for the Google IPO, and her name appears on technology patents pending. Caroline serves as a Managing Director at a leading Wall Street investment bank. Caroline graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in English Literature, and lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Her book, Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently, was published by Viking Adult (January 2014) and is now available in a paperbound edition, published by Penguin Press December 2014).

* * *

Morris: Now please shift your attention to Small Move, Big Change. When and why did you decide to write it?

Arnold: After years of failing at self-improvement New Year’s resolutions, I hit upon a system where I was able to succeed virtually every time I made a resolution. I began sharing this “microresolution” method with family, friends, and colleagues who began to report successes and very entertaining stories about their microresolution experiences, and it occurred to me – Hey, this would make a really good book!

Morris: Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.

Arnold: Well, the biggest head-snapping revelation was that I could actually write a book, after years of dreaming about it. I discovered that the only difference between doing it and not doing it is doing it, and that has had a huge impact on the way I now approach new opportunities and life in general.

Morris: To what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you originally envisioned?

Arnold: The form of the book is very close to what I originally proposed, but there is far more research in it than I had anticipated when I outlined it. I became really fascinated with willpower and behavioral science as it helped me to understand scientifically what I had discovered for myself experientially,.

Morris: As I read and later re-read your book, I was reminded of Jørgen Vig Knudstorp’s response when asked how he and his leadership team were able to save the LEGO Group: “brick by brick.” You seem to endorse the same strategy for personal growth and professional development. Is that a fair assessment?

Arnold: I do see every successful change in behavior as a foundation on which to build, so yes, it’s a fair assessment. But I avoid and discourage others from thinking about a single change of habit as merely a step toward a greater goal. There really is no such thing as an insignificant behavioral change, and every positive shift in behavior you make has an intrinsic value. Too often when we talk about taking one step at a time we think of each step as only a means to a loftier goal, rather than signing up for the immediate value that your new behavior offers all on its own. So much of self-improvement is focused on a “someday” that never comes, rather than on the value you can experience immediately, today and for a lifetime, by making one behavioral change.

Morris: Please explain when any you realized the potential significance of a microresolution. Please cite an example or two.

Arnold: I realized the significance of microresolutions when I replaced a failed New Year’s resolution “to be organized” with my first microresolution, “to keep all my notes in one notebook.” First, I found my more modest resolution much more difficult that I had anticipated and it was then that I realized that any behavioral change that causes a change to routine will feel awkward and uncomfortable. Second, I found out how much value establishing just one new habit has – that notebook habit filled a critical gap in my organizational behavior, reduced my stress level, and taught me to respect the power of discrete behavioral changes. Third, I found out that if you practice any change in behavior with real focus for a few weeks it will become part of your personal autopilot and no longer require willpower to sustain.

After my success with the notebook habit I decided to try a microresolution focused on diet and had another success—I resolved never to eat a conference room cookie again. These two resolutions taught me that I could absolutely succeed at any resolution as long as my target was reasonable, limited, measurable, and sustainable for at least four weeks. These resolutions were the first of dozens that reshaped my life in every self-improvement area.

Morris: Please cite some examples of microresolutions in a workplace environment, microresolutions that could have great significance?

Arnold: One great microresolution from the book was from a lawyer who resolved “to always make the scary call first.” Every day when the she looked at checked her to-do list there was always a call she dreaded making, and she always put it off. But once she resolved to make the call first, her productively soared, because she got the task she feared most out of the way.

Another great microresolution from the book was about a person who had been told she wasn’t qualified for a leadership position because she was a bit negative. She thought this very unfair, but made a microresolution “not to be the first to complain at work.” The very next day there was a management announcement and this person waited for others to begin to bitch, but nobody said a thing. She realized in that moment that she had, inf act, been at the hub of this complaining. The book has many examples from the work world, from improving relationships, to productivity, to better communication, and every success story hinged on making one small change in behavior.

Morris: In your opinion, to what extent could a series microresolutions help to achieve what Jim Collins calls a “BHAG”? That is, a big hairy audacious goal?

Arnold: Microresolutions can help with goal achievement all around by demonstrating that one can be successful every time one makes a resolution. The worst part about the failed resolutions is that we learn the habit of failure—we make big resolutions, but we’re not surprised when they peter out, because they petered out last year and the year before. But by leveraging the very forces that often doom resolutions — limited willpower, autopilot’s tenacious resistance to change—we can teach ourselves how to succeed regularly and to hold ourselves accountable.

I want to be clear that in the work world, we often do succeed at BHAG because our entire day is organized around achieving our priorities. It was easier for me to execute the auction platform for the Google IPO in six weeks than it was for me to “be bikini slim by summer,” “to be organized,” “to save more money,” because the Google IPO was urgent and concrete and my personal improvement resolutions were closer to wishful thinking. So often we manage the biggest things – work and family – while failing ourselves, because by the time we’re done with work and family there’s not a whole lot of energy or willpower left to hit the gym.

Morris: Apparently you agree with Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Here’s my question. By which process can the selection and completion of “small moves” become [begin italics] habitual [end italics]?

Arnold: I love that quote from Aristotle and use it in the book. The full quote talks about men becoming just by performing just actions and temperate by practicing temperate actions, demonstrating that even the highest character traits can be learned through practice. For example, if one has a habit of shading the truth to one’s own advantage, one might resolve never to lie in a given circumstance, for example not making false excuses about why they are late (my train was evacuated at Penn Station, etc.). By practicing this one change in behavior one could learn to be more accountable, learn to be more on time, learn that telling the truth and opening oneself to criticism may be a healthier state than arriving with a lie prepared. Similarly, one might develop a better character by pledging not to one up a partner, or by resolving never to say “I told you so,” to a child. These changes in behavior are surprising in their power and open doors to personal growth.

Morris: For those who have not as yet read the book, Arnold offers five reasons why resolutions fail. Please suggest what you view as the most important point or key take-away with regard to each. First, we make the wrong resolutions.

Arnold: We pledge to be different, rather than to do differently. Resolving “to be buff,” “to be neat,” “to be on time” — these wannabe pledges are very abstract and really require becoming another person instantaneously. Instead, we need to focus on explicit changes in behavior that we are sure we can succeed at.

Morris: We depend solely on willpower to succeed.

Arnold: When we make these ambitious pledges to be a different person all we really bring to the battle is our willpower, our strategy is to gut it out. But willpower is a very limited mental resource. We each only have so much willpower and when we’ve drawn it down it’s gone and our will to change collapses. The more behavioral change we take on at once, the more quickly our willpower stores are depleted.

Morris: We’re too impatient.

Arnold: The crash diet is an example of being so impatient that we destroy our chances of success. After months of self-indulgence we decide to drink green juice until we reach our ideal weight. Our impatience is also driven by our past experience of giving up after a few weeks – we fear that if we don’t get ourselves together in two or three weeks we will simply give up. So we push ourselves to achieve impossible results almost immediately. We lose some weight rapidly but after a short period we find we can’t sustain the pace. We begin returning to our old routines and the weight creeps back on. In every area of self-improvement there is an equivalent of the crash diet – a prescription designed to reverse immediately results that built up on the margin over time. But your best chance of succeeding is to make changes, one or two at a time, that you absolutely believe you can sustain for a lifetime. And that’s not a crash diet, or trying to go from spendthrift to frugal, or couch potato to gym rat, overnight.

Morris: We underestimate our mental and emotional resistance to change.

Arnold: Your life is largely run by a kind of personal autopilot made up of habits, routines, and attitudes. The good part about autopilot is that it mindlessly manages all kinds of routine tasks without any real consciousness – you can navigate daily to the bus stop without any mental effort. This preserves willpower, active initiative, and decision-making – scarce neurological resources that are part of a single mental resource pool. But autopilot’s efficiency is based on doing things as we have always done them, perhaps since childhood. If you didn’t grow up making your bed before leaving the house, you’re going to find it difficult to attain that habit without practice. And until bed making becomes part of your autopilot – in about four to six weeks – it’s going to cost you mental effort to get it done. Routines can also have emotional roots that run deep, and fiddling autopilot can be emotionally disturbing. I once made a microresolution “to dine leisurely and savor my food and drink,” because I knew one reason I had trouble losing weight was that I ate too quickly. But every time I tried to slow down a voice in my head would say, “If you don’t hurry up, you’ll never finish all this food.” I never knew until I concentrated wholly on just that one change how much unconscious value I placed on being fast, on being first, even when it was counter-productive. That’s why every microresolution is an adventure in self-discovery – because you discover exactly what is between you and a reasonable change in behavior.

Morris: We expect to fail.

Arnold: Well, 90 percent of us fail at our New Year’s resolutions by February. There’s a familiar pattern of gearing up for the big resolution, feeling inspired and determined, making some progress and feeling that this year is going to be different, and then after a few weeks feeling our willpower begin to crater. And when we give up on our goal, it’s almost comforting, because we can stop fighting autopilot and go back to our old routines. After this pattern is repeated for years it becomes more and more difficult to believe that success is possible.

Morris: Of all the great leaders throughout history, with which one would you most want to share an evening of conversation if it were possible? Why?

Arnold: Oh, this is a tough one. William Shakespeare or Abraham Lincoln because of their tremendous intelligence, courage, influence, wit, and humanity.

Morris: In Part 2, “Microresultions in Action,” you focus on eight areas in which a “small move” could result in a “big change.” Please suggest an example for each. First, sleep

Arnold: Get off the internet one hour before target bedtime—the light from the screen keeps you stimulated. Not eating after 8:30pm will also help, as the munchies we generally indulge in at night have more to do with trying to stay alert than with any real hunger. If you make a microresolution, “not to eat to stay awake,” you’ll go to bed sooner, sleep better, drop some pounds, and wake in the morning hungry for breakfast.

Morris: Fitness

Arnold: Stand on your commute; walk to work one day a week; get up from you chair every hour to walk around for two minutes. The newest research shows the tremendous value of marginal changes in physical routines – running five minutes a day is as physically beneficial as running 150 minutes a week, and ANYONE can run in place for five minutes.

Morris: Diet and Nutrition

Arnold: Target an eating behavior on the margin such as eating while cooking, eating while cleaning up, eating a healthier breakfast. New weight loss models show that for every 100 calories you can eliminate a day, you will lose ten pounds over three years, five in the first year. That’s one slice of bread, a glass of wine, or an ounce of cheese. Make a resolution that trims at the margin and you’ll make progress.

Morris: Clutter

Arnold: Zero in on one clutter target – clothes on chairs, piles of mail, dishes in sink, bureau in disarray and resolve to make one behavioral change that you can sustain forever. You might resolve to always do dinner dishes immediately; or to make your bed before leaving in the morning; or to hang up your coat when you come home. Each behavioral change you make will clear some clutter, until you get to a level of clutter that doesn’t oppress you (this will be different for different people).

Morris: Relationships

Arnold: Many of our responses to others are made on autopilot. On cue we become defensive, sarcastic, aggressive, dismissive, or complain. You can improve a personal or professional relationship by consciously responding differently in a given situation. You might resolve to lower your voice whenever your child raises his voice, or resolve to thank your boss for feedback rather than defending yourself; or you might resolve not to complain at work about management decisions. On the positive side, you might resolve to find an occasion to praise your partner every day, or to stay off your smart phone when playing with your child. Small shifts make a big different, and allow you to break an old, tired pattern of behavior that could be inhibiting your own growth.

Morris: Spending

Arnold: If you want to curb wasteful spending, examine the situations in which you overspend. It could be that you grocery shop at expensive stores because they are more convenient, or that you overspend late at night online, when you’re most tired. Perhaps it’s when shopping with a particular friend that you throw caution to the wind. Once you target a circumstance that repeatedly leads to wasteful spending, craft a microresolution that is limited enough to be successful. If you take cabs often, might make a microresolution not to take cabs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which will immediately save you some money and nudge you towards taking mass transit more often. You might decide to bring your lunch one day a week, or make your own coffee at work (that saved me a bundle). Eliminating wasteful spending is a mindset made up of many small savings that add up, not just foregoing a lavish vacation.

Morris: Punctuality

Arnold: People show up late to work often because they left the house just one minutes late, so small things really matter in the morning. If you have to search for keys in coat pockets, dredge up carfare from kitchen drawers, or have to stop for gas, you’re going to be late. Targeting a single change in behavior in the morning or one the night before can eliminate one cause of lateness. Nail that one and then move on to another. Another very effective microresolution that someone made was never to give an excuse for being late, such as “the train was stalled,” “I was detained at work,” etc., as if you always cut the margin for travel to the minimum, anything that goes even slightly wrong will make you late. By giving up excuses, you take accountability that chronic lateness is a habit, not bad luck.

Morris: Organization

Arnold: Keep all your notes in one place; check your priorities before diving into email; convert new phone numbers to contacts immediately; toss junk mail before bringing into the house.

Morris: By the way, these are all areas in which I have ample room for improvement, as is probably true of many others who have read your book. With all due respect to the potential value of microresolutions, I still have a problem with remaining actively engaged in the process. Any advice?

Arnold: My advice is to challenge yourself to keep one or two microresolutions for four weeks and see what kind of difference it makes for you. It does require focus, so if two is two many, try one. It’s a revelation to see what it really takes to make even one change stick, but equally revelatory is the impact that small change can have on your life. I have work to do in all these areas but my goal is not to be perfect, but to rebuild my autopilot so that it supports me in my personal and professional goals. I have made more progress over the past few years than I did in the fifteen before, and I feel that I can make change, that I am in control, that I can be accountable to myself.

Morris: Let’s say that a CEO has read and then (hopefully) re-read Small Move, Big Change and is now determined to establish or strengthen a workplace culture within which personal growth and professional development are most likely to thrive. Where to begin?

Arnold: All change begins with the self, the person you are today, so there isn’t one prescription for change that is going to work for every CEO in every workplace. But I will cite one example from the book, a manager who took over an under-performing team who wanted to challenge the team to do better and to be open to feedback. After considering how best to inculcate a culture of high performance, this manager began by regularly asking his direct reports for feedback on what he could be doing better. At first his new subordinates were wary, but as this manager persisted they were more forthcoming. It was then natural for them to also ask for feedback in return, and they learned by example to ask their own direct reports for feedback. Thus was a culture of team improvement set in motion.

Morris: For more than 25 years, it has been my great pleasure as well as privilege to work closely with the owner/CEOs of hundreds of small companies, those with $20-million or less in annual sales. In your opinion, of all the material you provide in Small Move, Big Change, which do you think will be of greatest value to leaders in small companies? Please explain.

Arnold: All companies, large and small, are human enterprises. Small, sustained shifts in behavior on the part of leaders can increase productivity, inspire innovation, attract talent, and build loyalty. Look carefully at the motivators and inhibitors within the workplace—some of these will be people, some processes, some accepted tradition, and apply the principles of change outlined in the book toward making progress. Focus on the language of doing, not being, different; gauge the capacity for change and focus your will on measurable targets until the change takes hold; identify unprofitable workplace “autopilot behavior” and disrupt it.

Morris: Which question had you hoped to be asked during this interview – but weren’t – and what is your response to it?

Arnold: Oh, boy, you asked a lot of great questions. I think we covered it!

* * *

Caroline cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

Her website link

Twitter link

Link to video of her presentation at Microsoft headquarters

Facebook link