ABSTRACT
Improvement is not optional: The need for improvement never goes away. The longer one postpones improvement, the higher the urgency, pain, risk, and cost of change. Many leaders have lost sight of the most obvious fundamental of business: The only way to get better is to improve current conditions. Executives have traded in their true commitment to Lean Six Sigma for many improvement dysfunctional behaviors that are driving culture backwards, all in the interest of illusive short term results. They are too preoccupied with immediate reason leadership and do not know how to improve, or are waiting and hoping for things to change. Consequently, too many organizations are in “improvement-neutral” while their people ask, “What will the next improvement program be after Lean and Six Sigma runs their course?” This is clearly symptomatic of the improvement experiences these people have lived through in the absence of strategic leadership and vision, and a formal sustaining infrastructure. Organizations that continue to skip or skim over these critical success factors have no chance to achieve continuous improvement success in the new economy.
