There comes a point in every improvement journey when it is time to celebrate and share. This is the most rewarding part of the Improvement Science Practitioner (ISP) coaching role so I am going to share a real celebration that happened this week.
The picture shows Chris Jones holding his well-earned ISP-1 Certificate of Competence. The “Maintaining the Momentum of Medicines” redesign project is shown on the poster on the left and it is the tangible Proof of Competence. The hard evidence that the science of improvement delivers.
Behind us are the A3s for one of the Welsh Health Boards; ABMU in fact.
An A3 is a way of summarising an improvement project very succinctly – the name comes from the size of paper used. A3 is the biggest size that will go through an A4 fax machine (i.e. folded over) and the A3 discipline is to be concise and clear at the same time.
The three core questions that the A3 answers are:
Q1: What is the issue?
Q2: What would improvement need to look like?
Q3: How would we know that a change is an improvement?
This display board is one of many in the room, each sharing a succinct story of a different improvement journey and collectively a veritable treasure trove of creativity and discovery.
The A3s were of variable quality … and that is OK and is expected … because like all skills it takes practice. Lots of practice. Perfection is not the goal because it is unachievable. Best is not the goal because only one can be best. Progress is the goal because everyone can progress … and so progress is what we share and what we celebrate.
The event was the Fifth Sharing Event in the Welsh Flow Programme that has been running for just over a year and Chris is the first to earn an ISP-1 Certificate … so we all celebrated with him and shared the story. It is a team achievement – everyone in the room played a part in some way – as did many more who were not in the room on the day.
Improvement is like mountain walking.
After a tough uphill section we reach a level spot where we can rest; catch our breath; take in the view; reflect on our progress and the slips, trips and breakthroughs along the way; perhaps celebrate with drink and nibble of our chocolate ration; and then get up, look up, and square up for the next uphill bit.
New territory for us. New challenges and new opportunities to learn and to progress and to celebrate and share our improvement stories.