Applying Continuous Improvement through Innovation in Everything You Do is the Key to Success

Patric Sazama, Regional Project Director; Central/Eastern Washington

It is exciting and satisfying to see the recognition that our client, the Bogert Group, is receiving.  But to boil it all down, Richard and Cathy Bogert are simply applying the concepts of Continuous Improvement through Innovation in everything they do every day.  When we work with clients, this is always our objective, to get businesses to THINK ABOUT and IMPROVE every single day.  When we see it in action, it is amazing.

When we talk about continuous improvement through Innovation, we are not just talking about large Kaizen-focused changes, although those are a part of it.  We are talking about looking at every single aspect of a business and talking about how is it effective and meeting the organization’s needs, and how is it not, and then making continual changes to improve.  Innovation in:

Processes– This is a classic focus of Lean Manufacturing.  What is the Current State of our process?  What level of performance (think metrics) are our processes giving to the organization?  And what would we like to see as a Future State for internal processes?  Then, simply noting the gap between the  current state and future state and continuously – every week if not every single day – changing some very small part of the process to improve it

Products– Putting strategic time into understanding where the organization’s products (or if a service organization, their services) are in relation to what their customers want, what their competition if offering, and how can they add more value, worth or functionality in their offerings?

Markets– How often do we critically think about the markets or market segments we are NOT in and what it would take to enter those new areas?  Related to this, we are always asking our clients to think about exporting to international markets that they have never even considered going after.  When companies focus on completely different market opportunities, the results can be staggering.

Leadership– An area VASTLY overlooked for continuous improvement.  And that is why almost universally, many times the largest element that is holding an organization back is not the ability or will of the workforce, but the ability of the leadership team to truly understand and evaluate where they are in terms of Leadership, Execution and Accountability, and to add those elements to their ongoing Strategic Plan for change and growth.

People– Employees are your most valuable asset.  The more you nurture, train and expect greatness from your people, the more you get it.  And this does NOT mean putting up with substandard performance.  The companies with some of the VERY best internal cultures have a very strong accountability model.  Companies where it is understood from day 1 that every single employee is there for a reason and that reason is to assist in as broad a way as they can, are the ones that are bound to be successful.  How many companies think about employee development through an Innovation lens?

Reading the above article about Bogert’s success is a shining example for any company of any size in any industry about doing your best to continuously improve.  And to think about your improvement as ongoing innovation.  Because if you do focus on innovation in that light, you will innovate.

And to all the businesses that are trying hard to do just that, I say, GREAT JOB….and how can we help?