I am a big believer in process improvement.

Pick whatever methodology you want. For 95% of the people and companies in this world, it won’t make a difference whether you’re a Six Sigma company or a Lean Company or a TQM Company or something else. They’re kinda all the same to immature companies.

Almost every company makes the same fatal mistake the first two or three times they try to implement a process improvement methodology: They don’t actually know what they do.

That’s not to say they’re dumb. But these companies tend to have people in place of processes, and little documentation. Training is often side-by-side, and every situation is handled differently. Outcomes are as much dependent on the skill of the individuals in roles, and the only results really measured are on the top-line.

Whenever I get involved in a project, I try to understand how things actually work. Even when we are attempting to create big change, it is usually the result of small changes applied to specific areas. The magic is knowing where to make your adjustments.

It can be revolutionary for a business just to strive for consistency and measurement. Even without changing what you do, you can make improvements by knowing how something should be done, and measuring how well it is done.