Symptoms of missed steps of the CI&I process
These are some of the symptoms that we and other people have noticed when we skip a step in the CI&I process.
Miss Step 1 - No Focus
- Getting overwhelmed or sidetracked by all the things we could do – but should we do them?
- Lots of activity but not getting anywhere – the wheels are spinning but there’s no traction.
Miss Step 2 - No Situation Analysis
- Thinking the same, doing the same and getting the same results – no matter how hard we try.
- Get despondent because we don’t believe we have any options to improve the situation.
Miss Step 3 - No Impact Analysis
- Invest time, effort and resources in options without knowing the results we can expect and the likelihood of success.
- Only find out after the event whether it was a good option or not.
Miss Step 4 - No Action Design
- Waste time, energy and resources during implementation.
- Different people in the team get confused about who is doing what.
Miss Step 5 - No Action Implementation
- Lots of talk but no action, and therefore no rewarding results.
- Don’t know quickly, early and throughout implementation whether things are going as expected or have gone off track.
Miss Step 6 - No Results Assessment
- Have no hard evidence that any of the benefits were actually the result of the changes put in place.
- Don’t know why and how results (both good and bad) occurred.
Miss Step 7 - No Creation & Synthesis
- Lose any energy and momentum that was created from achieving the rewarding results.
- Large gaps between improvement projects – the CI&I cycle isn’t spinning continually – it turns then stops, then turns then stops.