This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

The headline on this blog makes a point I have made in all my time in professional or volunteer life:  There is always room for improvement.

If you are involved in an enterprise, there is no reason to be satisfied with the status quo, however solid that may be.

Even if the enterprise operates well, look for ways to improve.

This has worked for me in:

• The church in Salem, Oregon, where I served in leadership positions for more than 12 years.  [Plus, if operational improvements were made, the credit would go to God, not to me or my colleagues.]
• The company where I worked with many others to conduct public relations and lobbying campaigns.  [The credit here would go to the clients.]
• The State of Oregon commission where I serve with others to emphasize the need for ethics in government.  [The credit here would go to the worth of ethical conduct and behavior in public life.]

All this came to mind when I read a recent piece by Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour.

In a memo to readers, he emphasized the need for “continuous improvement.” 

“All in all,” he wrote, “the Journal will not sit still in the coming year.  We believe in the old mantra from Clarence Barron, who presided over the Journal a century ago:  ‘We can always improve.’   Your feedback is key to that.  So, together, as we make sense of the changing world around us, we look forward to hearing from the most important part of our institution:  You, the reader.”

Kudos to the Journal for this commitment.  Among other things, it means I will continue to read the newspaper because of, (a) its quality writing, (b) the range of its purview of all things government, and (c) its commitment to continuing improvement.

In the general stuff I have read, I also have noted various “Guiding Principles of Continuous Improvement,” as follows:

1. Focus on the Customer

If you are in business, it’s obvious who your customers are.  They come first.  If you are in government, you should think of those who pay taxes and depend on your services as your customers.  Serve them well.

•  Use Workers’ Ideas

Continuous improvement does not always come from top management, leadership teams, or outside consultants.  Instead, it often comes from the workers who deal with processes daily and know their operations well.  Value their suggestions.

As one example, when I worked in the Oregon Executive Department many years ago, I joined with another manager to create the “Good Ideas Program,” an effort to encourage line staff to make suggestions about improvements in the operations of Oregon state government.  They did and we rewarded them for their initiative.

•  Drive Incremental Change

For continuous improvement, needed change often is delivered in small doses on a frequent basis.  Seemingly small changes will add up to significant change.

•  Use Fact-Based, Measurable Methods and Monitoring

Continuous improvement is not just trying hard or giving 110 per cent. No matter how often you hear that expression, it’s still ridiculous; a person simply cannot give 110 per cent.  When you make continuous improvement changes, you need to measure where you started and where you have arrived to show that you really have made improvements.

•  Set Goals, Incorporate Feedback, and Deliver Reinforcement

Enough said.

Measure success and reward it.