“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
- Linus Pauling

A fascinating tale is told of an art class that exposed the myth about the value of quality over quantity.  The story has two variations – one about a photography class and the other about a group of ceramics students. The results of both were the same.

In each scenario, students were divided into two groups. One group was told they would be graded strictly on quantity – the number of pots or photos they produced by the end of the semester.  The other group was instructed to create a single piece of art, and it would be judged solely on its quality.

At the end of the assignment, a remarkable outcome was observed. The students who created the large volumes of artwork ALSO produced the highest quality. Seems strange, right? Actually, not.  The experimenters concluded that the students who produced the most artwork also learned along the way how to continuously improve on the quality of their previous work piece after piece. 

The same principle applies to improvement efforts in the workplace. If you want to generate good ideas for improvements from your team, the surest path is to have them make LOTS of improvements without placing undue importance or acknowledgment on their individual value.

The reason is simple. People inherently want to do a good job, and the more they work at it, the better they get.  Drawing on that compelling lesson, the best way to tap the full extent of your team’s talents is to create a habit, a routine for Systematic Continuous Improvement that is woven into the fabric of day-to-day operations.

Click on the link below and learn how to produce both high quality and quantity of improvements in your organization.

Begin your improvement journey today!

“Great is the enemy of better”