Having a consistent, deliberate approach to continuous improvement is a vital Lean practice. Be careful to design continuous improvement efforts so that countermeasures can readily be identified, tested and if helpful implemented.

At least one presentation on an internal continuous improvement process gave the impression of being hierarchical, with improvements taking a long time to develop and implement. That may be a false impression and a misinterpretation on my part. It was still a helpful reminder of the importance of not implementing “Lean” practices just to be Lean, and that Checking and Acting need to keep pace with Planning and Doing.