"Don't rationalize your way to the land of mediocrity. We cannot be passive – we must act." My friend, Michal Bremer, author of "How to Do a Gemba Walk," shared this phrase with me the other day, and it really resonated both personally and professionally.
How many times have we accepted the status quo? I know I have at times in my daily life and certainly in my professional life. Sometimes, being stagnant simply feels easier. Many of us have looked at something, shrugged our shoulders, and thought, "It's good enough."
However, this pursuit of mediocrity is not a path that continuous improvement leaders should follow. It stifles our growth and impacts long-term success. As organizations promote organizational excellence by continually improving, accepting subpar performance impacts our potential for innovation and demotivates our teams.
Instead of rationalizing stagnation, CI professionals foster a culture of innovation and improvement. We challenge ourselves and others to make things better. By being proactive and not accepting less, we push ourselves to find creative solutions. We refine our processes and become better problem-solvers. And we have fun doing it!
This improves our jobs and lives – the pursuit of excellence and the collaboration and input of diverse ideas along this journey. We share, learn and grow.
Want to learn more about how the best of the best do this? Join us at AME Cleveland 2023. Someone shared with me the other day that they thought they might be a little intimidated by the expertise at the conference as they were early in their CI journey. I shared that this is what makes the AME conference so powerful – it is practitioner-to-practitioner, and they share their struggles and how they overcame or are overcoming them. And yes, they even share the toughest lessons learned along the way.
Rationalizing our way to the land of mediocrity is a disservice to our organization and ourselves. This week, let's be less passive and take action on one small thing.
I want to send a personal happy birthday to one of AME's founders, Robert (Doc) Hall.
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
