PDSA and you

We all want to get better. We have a built-in desire to make today better than yesterday. If that were not true, bookstores would not have aisles filled with self-help volumes, there would be no golf teaching professionals and golf course superintendents would work 35-hour weeks.

It’s what’s known as continuous improvement. The Japanese gave it a name: kaizen, which translates to “change for the better.” It’s a philosophy based on the idea that there’s always room for improvement, even when everything seems to be humming along just fine.

Our society, economy and markets, not to mention owners, boards and managers, demand nothing less. If we’re not continually improving, we’re stuck in neutral and possibly slipping into reverse.

Ask most experts their view of continuous improvement and they’ll prescribe a process that leads to sustained high-performance founded on three actions: planning, doing and evaluating. This process, often called PDSA (plan/do/study/act), is credited to management consulting guru W. Edwards Deming. But superintendents and their teams need not be academics like Deming to adopt and benefit from PDSA. They simply need your guidance and the opportunity to participate in the process.

Planning

What do you want to improve in 2025? Better playing surfaces? Shorter recovery times in cultural practices? Improved employee satisfaction? Planning is the spark that lights the fire for staff participation and eventual buy-in. Here are three planning keys for superintendents launching the continuous improvement process:

• Be inclusive. Empowering your team will yield the best results. Sometimes staff members lacking formal education can be the most valuable. Don’t exclude your people. Enable them to take ownership of continually doing better work. It is the rare soul who does not want to do his or work better next time.
• Be patient. One reason that process improvement is labeled “continuous” is because one is never finished getting better. As Nike proclaims, “There is no finish line.” It is a journey that is its own reward. The longest and most arduous step is the first one, so take the time and effort to get everyone involved. Patience also plays into the continuity of improving on results. Staff members are watching you for leadership. Show them that you are not only tenacious and determined, but also patient in pursuit of improvement, willing to overcome frustration and abide short-term failure in the interest of long-term success.
• Be right. Your efforts are meant to accelerate improvement. So “being right” requires that you are learning from “being wrong” more than once. Keep your team dedicated to the tenacity required to improve.

Doing

Establish general agreement among your team and put the ideas to work. Establish goals and objectives upfront, along with deadlines and approaches. This is a critical step to establish a platform for measurable results. Actually doing the work in a process-driven manner encourages everyone to be a doer, dedicated to making your course and facility better.

In some cases, your team may choose multiple approaches for the work that needs doing. Use your scientific training to establish the quantifiable results that are being sought. See that everyone knows how results will be evaluated before you begin testing.

Evaluating

At the end of a round of golf, there is a number we achieved. We post that number and look for ways to lower it the next time out. Our work is also measurable. By whatever metrics we choose — or are chosen for us — we have the opportunity to keep score, evaluate our progress and decide how we could do a better job tomorrow, next week, next month and in the coming year. There are several ways to move analysis to action:

• Small changes: Improvements are based on incremental rather than radical change, an approach that can also prove more cost effective.
• Homegrown ideas: The ideas come from the talents of the existing workforce, as opposed to using research, consultants or equipment — another way to lower costs.
• Staff ownership: Every member of your staff should continually be seeking ways to improve their own performance. This helps encourage staff to own their work. It can also help reinforce teamwork and improve motivation.

We all want to get better. And it seems the best way to do that is by working at it step by step, day by day. As Mark Twain once observed, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”