Dr. Deming used to using the term continual improvement (rather than continuous improvement) later in his life because that would include continuous and dis-continuous improvement (innovation, etc.). I use continual improvement for that reason also. I think the improvement process
- must be never ending
- must focus daily on how any process can be improved
- must focus on adopting improvement systemically (not just locally, by one person or team)
- must focus on discontinuous improvement which could include high energy kaizen events and dramatic innovation
- must include a study phase (PDSA) where the improvements are evaluated to determine whether they actually had the anticipate effect
- and must include improvement of the improvement process itself
To me, continual improvement encompasses both continuous and discontinuous improvement.
Reflecting on: Continuous Improvement vs. Continual Improvement
Related: Process Improvement and Innovation – Better and Different – Kaizen the Toyota Way – Change is not Improvement – Think Long Term Act Daily – Encourage Improvement Action by Everyone
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