article thumbnail

Avoid the Improvement Hype Cycle

Harvard Business Review

Fed by consultants, gurus, technology vendors, and academics, their enthusiasm for a particular process improvement method takes on a religious tone (as I described in my last post.) Also, to signal what TQM guru Deming called "constancy of purpose," choose a name that will always resonate, e.g., something tied to customers and service.

article thumbnail

Treat Everything as a Case Study

Harvard Business Review

Then we got talking about the odometer on my Nissan Pathfinder: Is a car that can go 300,000 miles a case of over-engineering or TQM excellence? This will help you assist your company in finding innovative solutions. They crave creative, adaptive, innovative thinking. It was a debate worth at least 40 miles.