A half-dozen reminders

from the road ofimprovement

to keep us moving

Created by Tom Curtis 2011, picture taken by authorBlog: www.onimproving.blogspot.comPresentations: on www.slideshare.net/onimproving Email: ideamerchants@gmail.comTwitter: @onimproving

Six reminders from the road,with the intent to lighten your load.

Incorporate slackIf we are at maximum capacity the smallest

issue can have a gigantic impact. We need to ensure we have slack in our rope, capacity in

our system, unscheduled time in our schedule, and issue acknowledgment in our expectations.

If we must have everything go right for our plan to work, we have set ourselves up for unnecessary pain and suffering. Things go

wrong, but they do not need to be given extra influence and impact. Incorporate slack.

Give it a goMost improvement requires action. Taking the first attempt can be scary and hard to do. We need to make it happen. We should plan and

prepare, but before long we need to give it a go. Most times we will not see the end of the road success we seek, but we need to get started. If we never start, we guarantee that we will not improve. We often fall to waiting to be ready,

we need to get started. Give it a go.

Be observantWe need to see. We need to see details, trends,

abnormalities, possibilities, problems, and potentials. This starts with being observant. Through watching and questioning, we can come to see. Observations change based on our orientation and what we are looking for.

We can work on seeing through doing, testing, and tracking. Start looking around you,

practice seeing differently than you normally do and note what you see. Be observant.

Make improvementImprovements come in all variety of sizes and shapes. The size of the improvement does not

foretell the impact it will make. Most improvements are made. We need to be

making them. They better our situations, increase our capacities, remove our

annoyances, improve our moods and open our paths. We must not be waiting for another to do what we can do. If we cannot do, we need

to ask for help. Make improvement.

Try againTo start we must try, to finish we usually will

have needed to try again and again. This does not mean we should continue trying things that

don’t work, but rather we need to learn from our attempts, make adjustments and test again. If we set our expectations that this will be the requirement, we can recognize and celebrate our progress, plan and chart our course, and

chase and reach our goals. Try again.

Regularly refuel your fireOur fire gets us started on the road of

improvement. We need to keep that fire burning to help us keep moving down the

road. Fires require oxygen and fuel. We need to refuel our fire on a regular basis to keep it burning strong and hot. Do you know what your fuel is? Do you know how to refuel? If

not, what is your plan to find out? If so what is the plan to make it regular and repeatable?

Regularly refuel your fire.

What reminders should you pass along?