When considering what it takes to create “a culture of continuous improvement,” many people complain that they don't have time. They don't have time, as leaders, and their employees don't have time.
As I've asked before, are they making excuses or solving that problem to create time?
Sometimes, a single manager tries to do too much on their own, which creates a bottleneck for improvement.
One way to solve this is to spread out the improvement work. It can be everybody's responsibility to find problems and everybody's job to help test and implement “Kaizen” improvements.
So, I love this quote from the English writer John Heywood — “Many hands make light work.”
That image is from the cover of our book The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. It shows a diverse group being “all in” to work together on improvement, whether we're wearing dress shirts, short sleeves, or scrubs.
How can y0u do to spread out the Kaizen workload? Have you been able to reduce the “manager bottleneck” factor?
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Let’s work together to build a culture of continuous improvement and psychological safety. If you're a leader looking to create lasting change—not just projects—I help organizations:
- Engage people at all levels in sustainable improvement
- Shift from fear of mistakes to learning from them
- Apply Lean thinking in practical, people-centered ways
Interested in coaching or a keynote talk? Let’s start a conversation.
