Improvement is Everyone's Responsibility

I'm unhappy with what I'm seeing in this industry-the space in which I work- the industry that I CHOSE to serve - because I think it's a reflection of the sense of entitlement we are seeing in our nation. It has me concerned. My job is NOT to do FOR a client, but to show them the way so they may DO FOR THEMSELVES. Yet increasingly we are seeing a detachment from the law of physics: a failure to acknowledge that our actions today impact the results tomorrow. There seems to be a pervasive sense that one doesn't have to do anything, that one does not have to take responsibility for anything, yet by some magic, their processes and services should improve.

For some reason, many in this industry are of the opinion that it doesn't matter what they do; that someone will "bail them out" or there will always be time to "do it again". Well, there isn't. If an organization is looking to improve, it is the responsibility of EVERYONE in that company, not just the consultant, and not just the CIO, and not just the project manager. Quality is EVERYONE's business. Anything less is a waste of time, and effort. Quite frankly, anything less than universal acceptance of responsibility for our actions is useless.

Improvement is about changing the way we do things. The tentacles of change MUST reach across the organization, deep into the psyche of those essential assets, the PEOPLE, that add value in producing a product. It is in this state of entitlement that creativity, productivity, and success are stifled. There is no motivation to make the incremental improvements that, when aggregated under a focused effort, will lead to the improvement that is essential to success.

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