From continuous improvement to continuous innovation

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the need for an alternative to how those in the quality community think about continuous improvement in those business environments characterized by rapid change and uncertainty. This involves a re-examination of the role of error and a recognition of the weakness of conventional marketing techniques in understanding customer needs. Compared with conventional thinking about continuous improvement, the probe-and-learn process and rapid prototyping are presented as better suited to dynamic but uncertain business environments. Probe-and-learn is seen as a new form of Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) that underweights 'Plan' and overweights 'Do' in a rapid-fire iterative process. The author examines Beta testing as a mode of probe-and-learn. Finally it is argued that probe-and-learn is applicable throughout the production chain.