Few days back I was invited by an MNC to examine one of their manufacturing facilities.

The manager of the shop showed me around.

Seeing a wall-board full of photographs I asked, ‘What are these?’

‘These are some of the many improvements we have carried out in the facility’, he replied.

‘Can you show me some of these cases?’

‘No’, he replied. ‘These improvements don’t seem to stick. It is quite frustrating. Why do you think it happens like this?’  he queried.

‘It is simple’, I said. ‘Anything that changes with changing circumstances isn’t reality.’

‘What is to be done?’

Focus on things that don’t seem to change and focus on failures to permanently improve something that doesn’t change with changing circumstances. That is what sustainable improvement is all about, which in turn builds a resilient system’, I explained.