Includes bibliographical references (pages 360-366) and index Introduction: The Science and Art of Improvement -- 1. A Model for Improvement -- 2. Skills to Support Improvement -- 3. Examples of Improvement Efforts -- 4. Using the Model for Improvement -- 5. Developing a Change -- 6. Testing a Change -- 7. Implementing a Change -- 8. Case Studies of Improvement Efforts -- 9. Integrating Improvement to Increase Value -- 10. Eliminating Quality Problems -- 11. Reducing Costs While Maintaining or Improving Quality -- 12. Expanding Customer Expectations to Increase Demand -- 13. Guidance for Leaders -- Appendix: A Resource Guide to Change Concepts The Improvement Guide offers a fundamental approach that promotes integrated activities designed to eliminate quality problems, reengineer systems to reduce costs, and create new products and services to increase demand. Unlike other books that focus on such tools as flowcharts and cause-and-effect diagrams, this book demonstrates how to make change happen. With stories that illustrates core ideas for enhancing quality and productivity, the authors - all active consultants - introduce a new and flexible approach to improvement. Their easy-to-understand model uses a proven methodology for developing, testing, and implementing change that produces specific, identifiable improvements. Drawing from experience over the last fifteen years in such diverse settings as manufacturing, construction, healthcare, law, government, education, and the nonprofit sector, the authors provide an innovative blend of practical ideas, examples, and applications for improvement To make the change process even easier, the authors have compiled a Resource Guide to Change Concepts containing a rich collection of ideas for improvement and examples of how they can be applied. It catalogues a variety of change concepts - such as smoothing the flow of work, scheduling into multiple processes rather than one, and building in consequences to foster accountability - and presents real-life examples of each, enabling even beginners to utilize the tested techniques of some of the world's most experienced improvement practitioners