INTRODUCTION

Part V addresses a series of common issues in different areas that you are likely to encounter as you consider and do process improvement. Viewed in a positive light, these are really general lessons learned. They represent a subset of the more than 200 issues that we have compiled in doing process improvement over the past 25 years. The ones selected were based on severity of impact, frequency of occurrence, and the ability to prevent the issue from occurring.

For each issue, four subjects are addressed:

• Impact. Here some of the major effects of the issue are identified.

• Prevention. This consists of some tips to prevent the issue from occurring.

• Detection. These are guidelines to help you detect when the issue is about to surface.

• Action. These are specific steps you can take if the issue appears.

Note that due to space limitations and the fact that the characteristics of each issue are unique in a specific situation, the comments are general.

It would be nice to say that there are no issues or that every process improvement effort is unique so that each issue is unique. But it is just not true. The same issues keep recurring due to the nature of people and organizations.

There are several ways to use the materials in this part of the book. First, you can refer to...