ProcessImprov.ing

'You try to make me part of your cult!' was one of the most haunting criticisms I ever received while implementing Continuous Improvement in a company. I had never considered that the ideas behind Lean and other forms of continuous improvement could be seen as cult-like. However, when I thought about it, it started to dawn on me that the Japanese terms and titles such as Black Belt and Green Belt do sound somewhat cultish.

I was never particularly fond of these names and always preferred to translate them into something more relatable for the company. The funny thing, though, was that this person was not referring to those words. The terminology didn’t matter—it was the fact that everyone kept talking about changing the culture or, even worse, changing our DNA. Quotes like 'Continuous Improvement should be part of our culture' rubbed this person the wrong way.

It all made so much sense when I heard the explanation. It had always been right in front of me, but I was like a painter focused only on the object he was painting, unaware of what was happening just beneath his easel. And there, under my easel, I had been ignoring the most fundamental fact of being human: we all want to belong to a group. We conform to the norms of our group, and together we establish something we call culture.

By stating that we were going to implement a Continuous Improvement culture, we were essentially asking: Do you still want to be part of this group, or do you no longer fit in? That’s a fundamental question rather than just a catchy mission statement.

Obviously, I responded by saying that I was not a cultist and that I truly appreciated the feedback. Rather than trying to force someone into a new culture, we started looking at how Lean was already part of the existing culture and which tools could help strengthen that aspect of the company. It might just be a matter of semantics, but it is important nonetheless.

Eversince, I heard this criticism I am wary of calling it a continuous improvement culture! I rather talk about the benefits that it will provide you and the company with. Changing a culture is too much, small incremental changes for the better is a more robust approach in my opinion and bolt statement such as Change DNA and continuous improvement culture do not fit (most of the time).