PURPOSE: This 2-day seminar will provide you with a better understanding of how to improve any process using an 8-step methodology that combines scientific, creative, and experiential learnings.

FORMAT: The seminar includes individual and group exercises and conversations personally led by W. W. Scherkenbach. We use animations and graphics on laser disc as well as interactive a/v on CD-ROM.

PREPARATION: You should have completed my 2-day course on How to Lead Major Change or its equivalent. You should be able to use and in fact have used the 7 basic quality tools as defined by Ishikawa. They include: Histograms, Control Charts, Pareto Diagrams, Graphs, Scatter diagrams, Check Sheets, and Cause-and-Effect diagrams.

Day One

1AM1 Change. You will learn how to use a proven approach to individual and organizational change. You will identify what your preferred mode of change is as well as the mode of one of your important customers so that you might better communicate and start the transformation process.

1AM2 Beginning to make the Transformation. Theory without action is useless; action without theory is costly.  I have developed an approach to management that balances theory with action, short-term with long-term, individual with team.  I explain how to achieve this balance by taking you through the highlights of my two workbooks on change: Constancy of Purpose Process and Continual Improvement Process.

1PM1 Identify the Gap. The essence of Continual Improvement(CIP) is "Quality is made up Front". The first step in any problem solving or improvement achieving process is to identify the opportunity. We will answer key questions to determine what the Gap is between the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Process.

1PM2 What are the Maps. We will learn how to Map the current process that gave us the Gap. We will also rearrange the People, Materials, Methods, Equipment, and Environment in the form of a Future Map with the aim to reduce the Gap.

Day Two

2AM1 Establish the Plan to close the Gap. We will learn how to write a Plan that reflects the previous steps and reallocates process resources to close the Gap. We will examine a check-list of important questions and items that I developed in over twenty-eight years of process improvement.

2AM2 Pilot the Plan. We will learn how to do the plan on a small scale, over sufficient time, and involving customers so that we will enhance our chances of learning something and yet not jeopardize or put the organization at extreme risk.

2PM1 Study the Results; Was the Gap Closed? We will learn how to analyze the results: the Gap could close as predicted, it could close but not as predicted, it could get worse and open, and it could remain where it was. Each of these is an important opportunity for learning.

2PM2 Act on the Results; Standardize the process. The focus of this step is to Act not on the process that reduced the Gap, but on the process that keeps the successful Future Map in place over space and time. This step recognizes that we best impact improvement in the design phase. We will learn how to examine policies and procedures and standards to make sure that the reduced Gap will hold until the next improvement iteration. We will also learn how to identify the next improvement opportunity.