Rapid Cycle Change happens relatively fast when individuals and members of groups and organizations develop and follow a plan of action. They work the plan exactly as designed. They re-examine the plan when the activities are halfway complete to see whether its effective and, if so, the team continues the strategy. They continue to re-examine how well they are doing – through completion.
When the Change Team realizes that the strategy is not working at the halfway mark as they anticipated, the plan can be completely revised. The Change Team members will continue to work and re-examine the action plan, being prepared to revise it if it is necessary – through successful completion. In technical terms, this is called Continuous Quality Improvement – CQI.
Developing the Plan includes researching what needs to be done. Then you assign tasks that need to be fulfilled within a pre-determined estimation of time. How much money in resources is needed for supplies, if any, permits, if any, transportation, etc. Everyone in the Change Team should support/endorse the plan and commit to seeing it to completion.
Then there is the Doing of the Work. Use the Plan like an architect follows a blueprint or like using GPS when traveling. Even if while executing, you realize you overlooked a key element, then include that element. Stick to the time limit that you set for yourselves.
At halfway, Study what you did so that you can improve the process. Ask what went well? What did not go well? Determine who was responsible, for improvement not punitive purposes. Ask what were the outlying factors that could not be controlled? – the weather; The printer malfunctioned (double-check your equipment); Stuck on the subway (you shouldn’t have waited till the last minute); It took longer than intended (implement time management for all projects); You went over budget (do a better job of estimating costs allowing for unforeseen contingencies).
After looking back, Act on the next steps to keep the Plan moving. Repeat the process until you have successfully executed the Plan.
We then accelerate Rapid Cycle Change by identifying and executing the next project for Continuous Quality Improvement of Our Selves, Our Families and Our Communities repeating cycles of PDSA Plan, Do, Study, and Act as we Save-Our-Selves One-by-One and All-Together. Let’s Do It Now since we Now Know How!!!