Life is not an endless debate. Small improvements over a long period of time wins over big debates about fundamental changes!
Continuous Process Improvement, just by its very name, suggests relentless small improvements rather than radically different approaches that improve things by an order of magnitude.
Just read that Honda Motors moved into Number Four position in the U.S., surpassing Chrysler. Only General Motors, Toyota and Ford are ahead of Honda now.
There was a time when Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda were called "tinkerers" and only American companies were capable of innovation and totally new earth shaking concepts.
Now and then you see totally successful innovations like the iPod! But the others seem to be minor innovations that will be by the wayside in a few years like social networking sites or places to post your video on the web!
However, small improvements in the context of a strong strategic direction produce innovations that may be small and incremental in the small, but all add up to something crucial, and very profitable in the long run.
Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Process Improvement offer such tools that may look localized and unimpressive in their local context but over a period of time they add up to a lot!
More importantly, they build a culture of thinking about improving everything you come across and that cannot be matched by competitors over a long period of time.
The Japanese automakers have seen up close the demand for the right kind of automobiles in India, China and the rest of Asia where gasoline is prized and expensive. They saw the need for continuing the work on Hybrids and fuel efficient automobiles and continued building these even when the rest of the world was drunk with low oil prices and built gas guzzlers.
When gasoline is tending more towards $3 a gallon and may even reach $5 a gallon in the future, small wonder that small cars from Toyota and Honda are the ones sought after, especially when they have added to the quality of their cars with endless small improvements!
Small improvements in the context of a strong strategic direction may help build a fortress that cannot be breached easily!
Something to think about in the context of services also. There is so much potential in improvement of services that organizations that latch on to these can catch strategic advantage real early!
Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.
— Stephen Kaggwa
