Continual improvement and its model

The continual improvement practice, the seven questions of its model in order, and the register that stops improvement ideas from living in somebody's head.

Lesson 11 of 12 in objective 7. Seven ITIL practices in detail, part of ITIL 4 Foundation.

The continual improvement model: seven questions that come round again. A loop of 7 steps that runs again from the top: What is the vision? (the objective, tied to the organisation's), then Where are we now? (an objective, measured baseline), then Where do we want to be? (the target, set from the baseline), then How do we get there? (the plan), then Take action (do it, and measure while doing it), then Did we get there? (checked against the baseline), then How do we keep the momentum going? (the step organisations skip). Then an arrow back from How do we keep the momentum going? to What is the vision?: Momentum means the model runs again — an improvement that was verified and then regressed failed here, not at the measurement. What is the vision? the objective, tied to the organisation's Where are we now? an objective, measured baseline Where do we want to be? the target, set from the baseline How do we get there? the plan Take action do it, and measure while doing it Did we get there? checked against the baseline How do we keep the momentum going? the step organisations skip Momentum means the model runs again — an improvement that was verified and then regressed failed here, not at the measurement
The continual improvement model: seven questions that come round again.

The purpose

Continual improvement exists to keep the organisation's practices and services aligned with changing business needs, through ongoing improvement of products, services and practices. Two things are being tested by that phrasing: the alignment is with needs that CHANGE, so improvement is not a one-off correction of something broken; and the scope covers practices as well as services, so improving how work is done counts.

The seven questions, and the two that get skipped

The model runs: what is the vision, where are we now, where do we want to be, how do we get there, take action, did we get there, how do we keep the momentum going. Questions on this are usually positional — you are given three answered steps and asked what comes next — so the ORDER is what has to be solid, not a paraphrase of each step.

"Where are we now?" is the step concerned with establishing an objective, measured baseline of the current situation. Objective and measured are the words that identify it: an assessment based on impressions is this step done badly rather than a different step.

"How do we keep the momentum going?" is the step organisations skip, and the exam describes the symptom rather than naming it. An improvement is implemented, measurement confirms the targets were met, the team disbands, and within six months the old behaviour is back. Everything up to and including verification was done correctly; what was missing is the last step.

The exam describes a step rather than naming it, and two descriptions can land on the same step. Left column, What the question describes; right column, The step it is naming. An objective, measured baseline and An assessment based on impressions both point at Where are we now? (The second is this step done badly, not a different step). Measurement confirms the targets were met points at Did we get there? (Verification, and here it was done correctly). The team disbands and Within six months the old behaviour is back both point at How do we keep the momentum going? (What was missing, and measurement is not to blame). What the question describes The step it is naming An objective, measured baseline An assessment based on impressions Where are we now? The second is this step done badly, not a different step Measurement confirms the targets were met Did we get there? Verification, and here it was done correctly The team disbands Within six months the old behaviour is back How do we keep the momentum going? What was missing, and measurement is not to blame
The exam describes a step rather than naming it, and two descriptions can land on the same step.

The continual improvement register

The register captures, tracks and manages improvement ideas from the moment they are identified through to final action. Improvement ideas arrive from everywhere and from everyone, and without somewhere to put them the good ones compete with whatever is loudest that week.

What it is not: not a project plan, not a list of approved work, and not owned exclusively by an improvement team. It is a place ideas are captured and then prioritised, and an organisation can perfectly well run more than one.

The register follows an idea the whole way, not only the part somebody approved. A range from The idea is first raised to The last action is taken. Captured: anyone may add. Prioritised: not the loudest. Acted on: still tracked. The idea is first raised The last action is taken Captured anyone may add Prioritised not the loudest Acted on still tracked
The register follows an idea the whole way, not only the part somebody approved.

Worth carrying in

Continual improvement
Keeps practices and services aligned with CHANGING business needs.
Where are we now?
The objective, measured baseline step.
Did we get there?
Verification against the baseline.
Keep the momentum going
The last step, and the one that gets skipped.
Continual improvement register
Captures and tracks improvement ideas from identification to action.

What the exam does with this

Objective
7. Seven ITIL practices in detail
Share of the exam
47.5% (the whole objective)
Questions in this lesson
5
Signed for by a person
0

Partly checked. None of the 5 questions here has been read against the cited source by a person. 5 questions have been checked against their cited clause by an automated pass — which is not the same thing, and is not a signature.

Only questions a person has signed for are used in mock exams here. That is the whole difference between the two kinds of checking above.

How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.

Drill this lesson

A lesson is one sitting: the trainer draws a short run from these questions alone and spaces the ones you get wrong.

Practise Continual improvement and its model

Questions in this lesson

Practise Continual improvement and its model

The rest of objective 7