ISO 9001:2026 Calls for a Quality Culture. How Would You Know You Have One?
October 26, 2026A technician reports the same defect for the third time. The supervisor is under pressure to meet a production target. Does the supervisor...
The Manager Who Got Kaizen Down from a Day a Week to an Hour a Week
July 6, 2026A new manager went to Joe Swartz, then Director of Business Transformation at Franciscan St. Francis Health, with a problem. Kaizen was...
The CI Problems You Think Are Unique to Your Industry Probably Aren't
June 24, 2026CI programs are usually built within the walls of a single organization. You benchmark against your own history and learn from your own...
No, You Can't Disband Your CI Team After Two Years
June 16, 2026Not long ago, an organization told us it was dissolving its continuous improvement department. The reasoning sounded almost responsible....
The 5 Whys Mistake That Stops Your Root Cause Analysis Three Whys Early
June 10, 2026An employee falls on the floor. Someone investigates. Why did they fall? They stepped on a wet spot.
That's a true answer. It's also the...
DMAIC in Action: A Real Example from Define to Control
June 9, 2026Most explanations of DMAIC read like textbook chapters. Here's what the framework looks like, here's what each phase does, here are some...
Change Fatigue Is Real -- Here's How to Run Experiments Without Burning People Out
June 8, 2026Continuous improvement asks people to change how they work. Not once -- continuously. New standards, new processes, new tools, new ways...
What Is a Target Condition (and Why Your Improvement Work Needs One)?
June 4, 2026Ask a team what they're working on improving, and you'll usually get a metric. Reduce wait times by 15%. Increase first-pass yield to 98%....
Voice of the Customer in Continuous Improvement: Are You Listening or Assuming?
June 1, 2026Every organization thinks it understands its customers. Most are working from a mix of outdated assumptions, secondhand reports, and the...
.svg)
