Building a Continuous Improvement Culture

Most teams don’t get better because they don’t take time to debrief. Last year, I had the honor of doing a bunch of leadership development work alongside my dear friend and amigo, Michael French. He’s a multi-time founder with successful exits, a fantastic family, and a heart of gold. One of the most powerful tools we taught together (really he, Michael O'Brien, and Admiral Mike McCabe taught, and I amplified in my sessions) was the concept of a Topgun-style debrief — and then we practiced it ourselves after every single session as a group. It’s a simple but transformative ritual. After every experience, we’d ask each other: What went well? What could have gone better? And what actions will we take to be even better next time? That’s it. Just three questions. But when asked in a space of trust, it opens the door to continuous improvement, honest reflection, and shared learning. The coolest part? Michael started doing it at home with his son — and now his son comes home from school excited to debrief the day with his dad. That’s when you know the tool is working. The origins of this approach go back to the Navy Fighter Weapons School — better known as Topgun. In the 1960s, Navy pilots were underperforming in air combat. So they changed the way they trained. But more importantly, they changed the way they debriefed. They created a culture of constructive, positive, inclusive performance reviews — grounded in trust, openness, and the pursuit of excellence. Led to a 400% improvement in pilot effectiveness. The philosophy was clear: the debrief is not about blame or fault-finding. It’s not about who “won” the debrief. It’s about learning. It’s about getting better — together. The tone is collaborative, supportive, and often informal. The goal is to build a culture of reflection where people feel safe enough to speak, to listen, and to grow. Most organizations only do debriefs when something goes wrong. But if we wait for failure to reflect, we miss all the micro-moments that help us move from good to great. Excellence isn’t a destination. It’s a mindset. It’s the discipline of always being open to improvement — even when things are going well. Especially when things are going well. So here’s my nudge to you: give this a try. Whether it’s with your team, your family, your partner, or just yourself at the end of the day — ask those three simple questions. What went well? What could have gone better? And what actions can we take to be even better next time? Let me know if you do. I’d love to hear how it goes.

🚫 Stop trying to copy Toyota. I say that with the utmost respect for Toyota and the incredible system they’ve built. I have seen in first-hand in the US and Japan! But here’s the truth: what works at Toyota won’t work the same way in your organization. Yes, the principles behind continuous improvement—respect for people, problem solving at the source, standard work—are universal. But the way you apply them? That has to fit your people, your culture, and your priorities. Every time I help a company roll out a CI program, the first thing I do isn’t hand them a roadmap. It’s this: I listen. I walk the floor. I get to know the team and I do a cultural assessment. Because culture eats strategy—and definitely eats templated Lean rollouts—for breakfast. Too many organizations skip this step. They try to bolt on tools and ceremonies without building trust or tailoring the approach. Then, when it doesn’t stick, they say: “See, Lean doesn’t work here.” But it can work—if you make it yours. ✅ Start with your people ✅ Respect the current culture ✅ Adapt the rollout to your maturity level ✅ Lead with purpose, not just tools CI is not a copy-paste system, it’s a way of thinking—and that has to grow from the inside out.

I’m incredibly proud of the work my team and I have accomplished in transforming our organization’s approach to Product Health Management. We sparked a cultural shift that significantly reduced incidents, improved application performance, and enhanced uptime. 💥 When I first joined, we faced constant disruptions and a reactive approach to problem-solving. But instead of accepting the status quo, we took bold steps to make a real difference and create lasting change—a cultural transformation. Here’s how we made it happen: 💼 Leap into Action: Building the SWAT Team 💼 🔧 We formed a dedicated SWAT team, always on standby to leap into action during incidents. 🤝 This fostered a sense of ownership and urgency across departments, making everyone responsible for product health. 📊 Assessing and Monitoring: Status Page & Dashboards 📊 🖥️ We introduced a status page to monitor and notify alerts and developed a Product Health Dashboard to track trends. 🔍 These tools became catalysts for transparency and proactive problem-solving. 📋 Strategic Planning & Response 📋 📝 We implemented a step-by-step response strategy involving key executives. 💡 This ensured collaboration, strategic thinking, and teamwork at the forefront of our operations. 📞 Communication & Collaboration 📞 🔄 Weekly connects with stakeholders helped review incidents and plan for changes. 🤝 This proactive communication fostered continuous learning, transparency, and shared accountability. 🔍 Monitoring the Situation: Continuous Vigilance 🔍 ⏰ Even after a crisis, we didn’t let our guard down. 🛡️ Continuous monitoring and reassessment became the norm, embedding vigilance and adaptability. 📈 Continuous Learning: Adapting and Evolving 📈 💡 We analyzed every incident to improve, cultivating a growth mindset. 🎉 We celebrated successes and learned from mistakes, fueling continuous improvement. 🚀 The result? By combining rapid action with thoughtful planning, clear communication, and a strong focus on immediate and long-term solutions, we didn’t just manage incidents—we transformed our entire approach. This led to quicker recoveries, fewer recurring issues, and a more robust, reliable suite of applications. Key Takeaway: Transforming product health management isn’t just about technology; it’s about building a proactive problem-solving culture, transparency, ownership, and continuous learning. Kudos to Jim Baron, Xiaoyu (Judy) Hopkins, Phong Truong, Alison Waghorn, Richard Entwistle, Travis Kieboom, Magnus Tautra, Kelli Delp #IncidentManagement #ApplicationPortfolio #TechLeadership #ShortTermFixes #LongTermSolutions #CTO #SWATTeam #MonitoringSystems #StakeholderEngagement #TechStrategy #ChangeManagement #OutagePlanning #CustomerCommunication #Innovation

I was honored to spend this week with a stellar leadership team. One of the many areas we worked on was how to get better results from their improvement efforts. I shared this graphic with them and am sharing it here as well. This may look familiar to some of you who remember the "5 Elements for Effective Change" that Mary Lippitt wrote about in 1987. (Hers were Vision, Incentives, Resources, Skills, and Action Plan.) We revisited this model while developing our Building a Continuous Improvement Culture course (TKMG Academy, Inc.) and changed some elements. 1. Purpose is similar to, but different from Vision—and we believe the more critical of the two. People must know WHY in order for improvement to have a change of being accepted and sustained. 2. Skills and capabilities are similar, but different. Capabilities generate results. They're the combination of knowledge, skills, and behaviors. 3. Resources. Yes and they must have the capabilities to perform whatever is being asked of them. 4. Action plan. Yes. With ownership, due dates, and active management. Action plans don't manage themselves. 5. Measuring and monitoring is 100% vital for sustaining improvement of any sort—and is often poorly done, if it's done at all. The theme of the conversation with the leadership team was: It's your job as leaders to set the conditions for success. If you're not seeing success, it's not "them." :-) Use this as a checklist everytime you're beginning to even think about improvement. And stop blaming the people when the conditions aren't there for them to succeed. (There are many more pearls in our course that help orgs establish excellent CI cultures. Brent Loescher does an outstanding job show you how.)