There seems to be doubt about the real potential of process improvement methods. This is a repeated theme in blog comments, emailed questions, and discussions about various process and business improvement methodologies. Can we really improve processes to an optimal level, or can a process only be improved to a limited degree before it must be completely scrapped or reinvented? Does the benefit of incremental process improvement really outweigh its cost?

I’ve been reluctant to invite discussion or venture an opinion about this theme for a long time, primarily because its waters run deep. It’s not a simple discussion. However, today I’m feeling brave, or inspired, or foolish, so I thought I’d broach the subject.

Let me address the most pessimistic arguments doubting process improvement payoff. They could be summed up as: “The effort and cost to change culture, train personnel, win over resistance to change, alter processes, and otherwise incrementally improve according to a structured methodology, which is really just a fad, are too great and a waste of time.”

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