While the transformation CEO may be proud of what the team has accomplished, at the same time, they are never satisfied with the status quo - no matter how good that may be. They are constantly seeking to improve corporate performance as part of a continual evolution.
While all the participants in a recent study desired improvement to occur quickly, as one CEO put it, “While you may have to put the ‘rudder over hard,’ the ship doesn't turn quickly. It takes time for culture change and you have to take the group along with you.”
In addition, “Baldrige companies expect continuous improvement in all areas but definitely must have specific breakthrough improvements to achieve World Class performance. I think of continuous as 3-5% improvement in performance and breakthrough as 20% plus improvement. I can't think of any Baldrige recipients as not having both.”
The CEOs in the study “pushed” for both continuous improvement and breakthrough improvement but they realized that creating and sustaining high performance is a long-term evolutionary process.
All of the Baldrige recipient organizations in a recent study used four systematic approaches for continuous improvement or organizational learning including: a strategic management system; continuous improvement processes (e.g., PDSA); benchmarking; and Baldrige-based assessment and improvement.
Leading organizational change toward achieving competitive advantage requires both incremental continuous improvement as well as breakthrough improvements that dramatically shift performance higher.
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