Almost every process improvement initiative I’ve researched over the last three years in more than 50 organizations has been pushed from the top. These mandated-from-above programs include Lean Six Sigma initiatives with experts (“Belts“) in command, big IT implementations, and reengineering of major end-to-end processes. While most of these interventions produced tangible business benefits, they often didn’t stick. Because the top-down pushes imposed changes from the outside, front-line people went along, but they didn’t own or internalize them.