All improvement efforts require a framework. No matter what we’re doing, we all need some way to align our efforts and focus on a specific objective. During my 50 years in this business, I’ve seen people use many different improvement frameworks. Most of these have been variations on either PDSA (plan, do, study, act) or DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control).

This column will reveal the three fundamental questions that form the basis for all of these frameworks. Answer these three questions and you’ll have a road map for success. The many different improvement approaches simply dress up these three questions with different details. These details often obscure the fact that there’s a simple, proven approach to process improvement.

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