The Importance of Continuous Improvement

“If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.”

It may seem cliché, but in today’s hyper-competitive environment progress is essential to sustaining success. In my experiences, I have found that organizations that are constantly seeking areas for improvement will outperform a company that rests on its laurels.
 
Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) is an integral part of process improvement but it has never, and never will, yield perfect results. So, as quality advocates we must realize that once we run through one cycle of PDCA that additional changes will always be required to improve processes.
 
It’s easy for members of an organization to be satisfied with “well enough”. The problem with this mentality is that processes become obsolete now faster than ever. I have seen many processes that were seemingly fine, slowly erode due to complacency, wiping out that critical competitive edge. The best way to ensure a superior product or process is to be a promoter of continuous improvement.
 
There are many external factors that can negatively affect your company that you have no control over, but the best way to mitigate these risks is to constantly pursue perfection in those you can control.
 
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