Continuous Improvement is Breakthrough Improvement
There is a common misconception regarding Continuous Improvement, which is that it is only about incremental improvement. In fact, continuous improvement is about improvement that is ongoing and never-ending, without backsliding or loss of focus.
There are two diagrams that I use to illustrate two important concepts of Continuous Improvement:
1. Continuous Improvement illustrated shows that it’s not only about the small improvements but also large improvements, what in Lean terms are called Kaizen and Kaikaku, respectively.
Continuous improvement illustrated
2. Continuous Improvement versus Discontinuous Improvement demonstrates that improvement is only continuous when it is locked in with standards and built upon, something that many find hard to do and is why most, if not all, organisations do improvement activity but only a few actually do continuous improvement. However, this ‘locking in’ of standards must run in parallel with the re-wiring of the brain, as if the change is rejected psychologically, no amount of ‘logical’ standards will act as an antidote.
Continuous Improvement versus Discontinuous Improvement
Kaizen, meaning a change for good, is the now widely known (but oft misunderstood) word for small, incremental changes, and is sometimes conflated with the term Continuous Improvement. Kaikaku, meaning radical change, describes those improvements that are significant in nature and create a step change in performance.
Both are necessary, with the aim being that everyone in the organisation is implementing Kaizen on a regular basis, whilst Kaikaku improvements are made less frequently, by cross-functional teams delivering against strategic goals.
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Living Lean means that every day we will make improvements to our methods, improving our effectiveness through rigorous problem solving resulting in new standardised ways-of-working and the majority of the time this will be through the smaller Kaizen, improvements that make performance that bit better and, cumulatively, generate significant improvement over time.
However, we will also have a number of larger improvement Projects and Kaizen Events, the Kaikaku improvements, and these will ensure that we not only make continuous incremental improvement to our performance but that we also make the necessary breakthroughs that are required to meet customer expectations and to beat the competition.
A statement often apocryphally attributed to Henry Ford is:
If I'd asked people what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse
This is sometimes used as an example of why continuous improvement isn't sufficient to grow a business but, hopefully, this article has convinced you that it is a misconception and that continuous improvement is about breakthrough as much as it is the incremental.
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✅ I am an Accomplished, Growth-focused Leader with tons of experience in Process & Efficiency Improvement and Programme Management. I help companies to connect the dots, and solve complex problems 😄
3yNice reading Philip Holt What I find most challenging about sustaining the improvements is to deal with the human factor and knowledge transmision. Over time, if the correct learning and development mechanisms are not in place, even a breakthrough improvement (kaikaku) can fall apart. I was wondering what you think is the best way to maintain the improvement over time? I can only think about a radical shift in mindset and behaviours for people inside organizations.
Apologies Philip. Original source was Danaher, which Mark DeLuzio at Lean Horizons may have adopted his own in 2001. Time plays tricks on the mind. In any event, Danaher might be the original source for attribution. Lesson learned!