How to launch a sustainable continuous improvement program?

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There is no doubt that every organization needs a structured continuous improvement program. Having spent two decades participating in improvement programs across industries, I can say that sustaining an improvement culture is exponentially more difficult than kicking off the program. Success is the ability to create an organization where individuals constantly learn and improve. This requires organizational maturity that promotes informed risk taking, transparent reflection of failures without retribution and the desire to do better. Selecting the right improvement vehicle for the organization becomes critical. 

Sounds simple in concept but if the ratio of success vs. failure when it comes to corporate improvement initiatives is any evidence, it’s not really that easy. Many smarter individuals with more experience than me have written bushel-loads on how to develop and implement a sustainable operational excellence model that delivers. I’d like to share my two-cents based on experiencing initiatives ranging from deploying Six Sigma back in GE’s heyday, to developing and launching lean programs in the Pharma industry. 

In the spirit of transparency it would only be fair to add a disclaimer here – these views in no way reflect the views of my present or past employers and my observations are not directed at any particular organization. 

The first step – having a clear view of “Why” you need an improvement program.

The first, and probably the most important question in the entire improvement journey is the “why?” Why does the organization need any kind of continuous improvement program? There isn’t necessarily one right answer to this question, but there are a number of wrong ones. Business leaders should understand the “opportunity cost” of deploying any improvement program. Many an organization has failed in deploying operational excellence by underestimating the commitment required to sustain a structured initiative. The willingness to commit resources is directly proportional to the “why”. 

If the organization sees a strong reason for deploying a lean six sigma program then the resources will follow. 

Unclear “Why” + Underestimating opportunity cost = Failed Improvement program

Timing is everything, being too pro-active about deploying an improvement program and you may lack any systemic burning platform that can bring the functions together as a team. Wait too long and your improvement program runs the risk of being relegated to fire-fighting and will lack the learning culture you need to sustain the effort.


So the first take away – be absolutely clear on the “why” and ensure key stakeholders in the organization are aligned, committed and clear on the timing of expected deliverables from a continuous improvement program.

What are the top organizational improvement priorities right now?

What are the critical issues that need to be addressed through this program? Based on where the business is in their operational journey; do they need to develop a culture of continuous improvement or is the organization looking for some quick wins that hit the bottom line? Is there one burning platform that goes across the entire organization? What parts of the organization will be included in the continuous improvement program, parts of the supply chain or the entire organization?

These are all questions that need to be considered before deciding on a path and more often than not the answer is “Yes”. In the highly competitive environment we find ourselves these days there is, at times, an unrealistic expectation that everything must be our top priority. There are those that would argue true leadership means being energetically optimistic and setting a high bar, where you expect everything can be delivered with the same level of urgency and priority. 

Is this a realistic expectation? Can an organization deliver step-change improvements on multiple fronts at the same time? 

The honest answer is no. Now, before the improvement gurus get their hackles up, let me add this - just because something isn’t an improvement priority you don’t ignore it. There may be a dozen priorities the team needs to deliver this year, but isn’t true leadership the ability to eliminate the noise and help the team focus on the 2-3 things that need to be covered by the improvement program now? Don’t ignore the rest, if it isn’t one of your top focus area’s then put your energy into maintaining performance, not making step-change improvements.

The second hurdle that organizations on an improvement journey stumble over is in being selective about their focused improvement area’s.  Expecting any lean program to deliver exponential benefits in every area of performance is a sure fire way to fail.

Choosing an aligned improvement vehicle to drive your organizations agenda.

By this point the organization knows why they want to drive a continuous improvement program, they’ve aligned the stakeholder expectations around what improvements need to be delivered and by when. Now its time to select the appropriate methodology and ensure it is aligned to the goals selected, aligned to the organizational culture, aligned to the expected deliverables.

The next piece involves understanding which of the many available vehicles the business will use to drive these improvements.  The “vehicle” analogy is a great one to help demystify improvement programs. Talk to any Lean Six Sigma expert and you will hear a slew of terms that sound really cool. Six Sigma, PDCA, Gemba, Kanban, A3, Value Stream Mapping, SMED, 5-Whys, 5W1H… the list goes on and on and I don’t propose to go through an analysis of these terms. 

At the risk of offending the Lean-Gods by oversimplifying things (again) - it really is like selecting a vehicle. The first step is identifying the destination and your goal’s for the journey. 

And yes, the destination and goal are two separate points. My destination may be the Grand Canyon, but my goal is to have fun along the way. Alternatively I could be planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, but I want to get there as quickly as possible. The first opportunity for error is when you’re vehicle isn’t aligned to the journey. Wouldn’t really make sense to take that Porsche 911 of yours on an off-road trip now would it? That Rolls Royce Cullinan wouldn’t be the best choice if you’re planning to take the entire 4th grade class out on a field trip. 

This is probably one of the most important decisions you will make on your continuous improvement journey and unfortunately the seeds you sow of a bad decision won’t blossom until much further along the journey, by which point it may be too late to change gears.
Bear with me as I take the vehicle analogy a little further. Think of the various improvement tools (VSM, SMED, Gemba, Kanban, FMEA, Pareto etc) as parts of your vehicle. Once again it’s all about alignment, ensuring your vehicle is aligned to the destination, ensuring the parts of your vehicle are appropriate for the type of vehicle you’re driving and the destination. 

After all, it wouldn’t make sense to put those off-road tires and heavy duty luggage rack on your Porsche 911 for a lazy Sunday wine tasting trip up route 1 to Mendocino county with your wife. 

For smooth improvement journey make sure you spend the time to select the right improvement methodology. Don’t get seduced by the latest buzz-word out there, and beware of deploying an “over-engineered” solution. There is no free lunch and eventually you’ll have to justify the cool sexy sports car you buy for those daily grocery runs.

Saving the best for last – it’s all about leadership, leadership, leadership

Of the many factors that have to be taken into account when developing and deploying a continuous improvement program I’ve listed just three. These aren’t necessarily the most important factors since that depends on where your organization is in the improvement journey and your short and long term priorities. 
However, there is one variable critical to the success of an improvement program, in ANY organization, no matter where they are in the operational excellence spectrum. 
Leadership. Leadership. Leadership.

I’ve said it three times - not for the sake of allegory, and not just to emphasize the importance of leadership in the success of continuous improvement, but also because there are three aspects of leadership worth highlighting.

Bless vs. Engage

No one would disagree that leaders play a critical role in the success of a continuous improvement program. The important question is around what kind of engagement we expect from our leaders during the journey. 
There has been a lot of discussion around whether it’s more important to have a top down change management approach or a bottoms up philosophy when it comes to programs like Lean, Six Sigma or TPS. The answer is somewhere in between. You need both. 

Without engagement of the people that touch the product you’re not going to surface the real issues or get tangible solutions impacting the bottom line. At the same time, without active engagement of the senior leaders you’ll have difficulty sustaining the sparks of enthusiasm generated.  

At this stage it is important for the engagement to be meaningful. Surface engagement that is akin to window dressing will be seen through by the rank and file pretty quickly. If leaders get into the trap of “blessing” improvement activities versus being actively engaged it can result in a check-the-box environment of self-propagating non-value adding activities. 


Avoid the death-spiral for any continuous improvement program by ensuring leaders are actively engaged in driving improvements.

Do vs. Delegate

Depending on the improvement program deployment strategy it’s important leaders at the appropriate level within the organization are executing improvement activities. Similar to the Bless vs. Engagement trap, it’s easy for managers to get into the habit of assuming effective continuous improvement means telling someone to just do it as opposed to participating themselves.

More often than not; well intentioned Lean and Six Sigma programs fail when leaders interpret good problem solving as a cascade of delegation until the person in the chain closest to the value addition is saddled with doing all the improvements.  Typically this individual on the front line is also the leader doing the most value addition within the chain of leadership and hence should be focusing on the day to day activities of the business.
The balance of Do vs. Delegate is dynamic, it will change over time and it will change depending on where the leader fits within the chain of value addition. 


At the outset it is important to clearly identify expectations from different leaders in the organization when it comes to participating in the improvement program. It can be perilous to assume leaders are aware, and capable of what needs to be done.

Expertise vs. Curiosity

These two attributes aren’t mutually exclusive, but it’s important that leaders engaged in the continuous improvement journey have at least one or the other. 

Either the expertise to lead a lean program, or the genuine humble curiosity to learn and ask the right questions. Sometimes good leadership is about asking the right questions and bringing a healthy dose of common sense. 

Another great word for common sense in this context is alignment. It’s surprising how often asking the right questions will surface a fundamental lack of alignment in activities being done across the value chain. 


Don’t let your continuous improvement agenda fail because leaders don’t have the technical capability or lack the confidence to be curious.  

This feeds into the larger organizational culture where it’s ok to raise your hand and say you don’t know. It’s encouraged to swing for the fences, even if that means missing once in a while.

So in closing

I’ll be the first to admit that there is nothing earth shattering in what I’ve shared around making your continuous improvement journey a success. 

• Make sure you know why your organization needs a continuous improvement program. If there isn’t a burning platform then make sure there is a clear purpose the whole organization can get behind
• What is the business expecting to get out of the operational excellence program? It’s important the leadership is clear on the expected results AND the timing – whether they are bottom-line benefits or more intangible cultural capability enhancements that are important for the long-term success of the organization.
• Don’t get seduced by the latest buzz-words. Pick an improvement program that is aligned to the purpose and goals. Spend time understanding how all the pieces are aligned.
• Leadership, leadership, leadership. Enough said!

In some sense the importance of the points I’ve listed should be underlined by all the stuff left out.  Beware of the comfort that comes from assuming the most effective solution must be the most complicated answer. 

Sometimes the simplest solution really is the best one, and it doesn’t cost you a bunch of billable hours.