The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance, Second Edition

CHAPTER FIVE

USING THE MODEL FOR IMPROVEMENT

Change and improvement are never easy. Even an apparently simple system appears much more complex when change is contemplated or introduced. This chapter explores in more depth the use of the Model for Improvement introduced in Chapter One (see Figure 1.1). We rely on the operational definition of improvement presented in that chapter. Fundamental changes that result in improvement:

• Alter how work or activity is done or the makeup of a product

• Produce visible, positive differences in results relative to historical norms (from the viewpoint of those served by the system)

• Have a lasting impact

We consider this definition of improvement as we discuss using the three fundamental questions of ...