Knowledge Base · Pitfalls
How do I keep an improvement process from becoming overcomplicated?
Tailor the process to the size of the problem. Chapter 7 warns that rigid, bureaucratic methods can crush the innovation they were meant to foster. A simple idea should not need a long charter and three levels of approval. Some problems need a full DMAIC project, many can be handled with a Just Do It approach.
Sometimes the improvement process itself becomes the largest obstacle in the way. The chapter describes organisations adopting rigid methodologies that require heavy paperwork for small ideas, until trying something better feels harder than leaving the problem alone.
Its example is an employee with a simple idea. Requiring that person to complete a 10 page project charter and win approval at three levels, just to test the idea, is the failure in action. Each extra step filters out the small, everyday improvements that build a culture over time.
- Match the method to the problem: a full DMAIC project for a complex, cross cutting issue.
- A Just Do It approach for a small, clear fix that can be tried safely.
- A leader who keeps needless bureaucracy away from the team and leaves improving things easy to do.
The test in the chapter's audit is simple: can people put an idea forward and put it into practice without a struggle? If a good idea needs endurance more than judgement, the process, not the people, is the barrier to fix. Keep the heavyweight method for the heavyweight problem, and let small improvements move at the speed of the people who spotted them.
Related questions
- Just Do It, rapid improvement event, or DMAIC project: how do I choose?
- How do I run a small improvement experiment this week?
- What is DMAIC, and when should I use it?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 7 (Pitfalls to Avoid in CI Initiatives).