What company doesn’t want to see its business get better? Increase productivity. Cut waste. Reduce rework. Get more efficient. Shorten timelines. All that while maintaining topnotch quality and steadfast customer loyalty.

The answer? No one!

So if everyone wants to get better, why do so many companies continue to plod along with their legacy systems, processes and operating methods?  Here’s a brain twister for you – It’s because they work! That’s right, the thing people get paid for – doing their job – is the very thing that keeps work from getting better than before.

Don’t rock the boat.  Stick with the tried and true. Go with the flow. It’s good enough. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

How about this instead? Even if it ain’t broke, make it better anyway!

Okay, if you buy that idea, here’s the next blind spot companies have. They think the best source of those improvement ideas are the managers – the people who were hired and promoted for leadership positions because they’re smarter than the rest of the team. Right? 

Here’s the bottom-line truth. The people who know best how to do the job better are the ones who work on it every minute of every day.  But here’s another trap. They’re too busy doing their jobs – what they get paid for – to take time out and step up to bring improvements to their boss.  

If you really want to get hundreds of pearls of wisdom for how to do things better, faster, easier, cheaper, safer, etc. – you need routine processes for engaging everyone on your team in systematic continuous improvement (SCI) as a regular part of their work habits.

Here’s an example from a former client, a private-duty in-home care service, that shows the results that kind of routine process can produce. After their first year of using SCI:

• Nearly 300 employee-generated improvements

• Revenue up 14%

• Profit up 39%

• Caregiver satisfaction jumped from 79% to 93%

• Client satisfaction improved from 83% to 91%

If you’d like to see gains like that in your business, click on the link below and let’s set up a time to talk about a proven process for helping your team make you richer every day.

6-Week Program for Systematic Continuous Improvement

“Great is the enemy of better”

Tell Us Your Stories!

If you have a story that illustrates the power and potential of employees engaged in continuous improvement, we’d love to hear it – and share it with our readers.