Continuous improvement ( "kaizen") is a core process within Kanban and/or Scrum.

But what does it mean?

Here is an A3 I use to explain the concept

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At the Lean Software conference in London Portia Tung tipped me off about Christopher Avery's responsibility model. I need to show it to you.

1. Denial - ‘Problem? What problem? There’s no problem.
   
   
2. Blame – ‘I don’t have a problem working with you. You seem to have a problem with me. That makes it your problem. ‘
   
   
3. Justify – ‘I guess it’s possible that I’ve become insensitive to other people’s feelings and needs. I can’t help it though. After all, I’ve been doing this job for a long time. It’s who I am.’
   
   
4. Shame – ‘What have I done? I’m going to look such an idiot in front of the people at work. How am I going to live it down? Why should they help me after the way I’ve behaved?’
   
   
5. Obligation – ‘Tell me what you think I should do. I have no choice but to do it (even though I don’t want to). I’ll do whatever you say. It’s only a job after all (no one can expect to do a job they love).’
   
   
6. Responsibility – ‘I can wait for them to change but that could take forever. No, it’s up to me. I want to fix the problem. So how am I going to be a better colleague? I know! I’ll listen more. And be more considerate towards others. It’s a start.’

Now test yourself -  just how professional are you?

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