Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Routine before method

Organizations often adopt a methodology and expect behaviour to follow. In practice the behaviour depends on whether supervisors have time, mandate and a forum to act on what their teams raise.

Schedule the capacity

Improvement work competes with delivery and loses by default. Protecting a small, predictable amount of time is the difference between a programme and an intention.

Close the loop

Ideas that disappear teach people not to raise them. Responding to every suggestion — including a clear no with a reason — sustains participation better than incentives.