“Only a third of excellent companies remain excellent over the long term. An even smaller percentage of organizational change programs succeed.”

The question continually being asked is, “What are the enablers for successfully implementing my change?” Of course, there are common things that can and should be done as depicted by the various change models. However, some things are very situational and need to be handled for change to take place. So, predictions of success are often difficult with the numerous potential influences that can drastically and, sometimes, almost instantaneously change the anticipated outcome. As Yogi Berra stated, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

People change because they are inspired by a clear, believable vision, or there is a desperate situation, like your plant is the poorest performing in your company or when compared to your competitor’s plants. Having said that, there are still many things that can be done to greatly improve your chances of success. To achieve or maintain competitive advantage in any industry, you must recognize the need for and be skilled in implementing change. How well your organization accepts change is critical to the continuous improvement of your operations in any field (e.g., medical, manufacturing, process, assembly, energy, logistics, etc.). At the core of successful applications are four major categories that are regularly evidenced.

Figure 1: Continuous improvement enabling triangle

Each of the three categories (Figure 1) must be congruent with the other two, with the fourth category, continuous improvement, persisting in all of them. Most companies will agree with these items, but critical is the detail to which they are understood and applied. Presented for each category are several opportunities and the corresponding actions/understandings needed to improve the chances for successful application. The more enablers you have in place, the greater your likelihood of success.

Tip from "The Relativity of Continuous Improvement" by Dr.Klaus Blache.

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