Stage B: Embedding an Improvement System

Build shared understanding, language, and discipline.

This phase establishes how improvement work will be practiced across the organization. Through a structured training sequence and early immersion in day-to-day work, leaders and staff develop a shared mental model for improvement, learn what "good" looks like in practice at your organization, and understand their responsibilities in sustaining it.

The focus is on clarity, seriousness, and consistency - before any major change work begins.

This phase is intentionally rigorous. It creates stability and alignment before application.

In this phase, I:

• Observe how work actually happens
• Capture patterns across teams
• Identify early barriers that affect staff’s ability to do their jobs well
• Introduce the core improvement philosophy and operating rhythm
• Build psychological safety around surfacing real problems

Turn training into lived practice.

In this phase, I work side by side with staff in their real workflows. We focus on problems that matter to them — not “perfect” problems — and build confidence by learning through action.

Leaders are coached to listen closely, understand what’s getting in the way, and take responsibility for reducing friction in daily work. Improvement becomes a shared effort — not something delegated downward.

This is where improvement becomes real, visible, and legitimate.

In this phase, I:

• Spend time embedded with frontline and middle managers
• Observe how work actually happens — not how it’s described
• Coach staff on documenting real workflows
• Surface recurring barriers and decision bottlenecks
• Help teams identify one problem they genuinely want to improve

Build an improvement system people actually use.

In this phase, teams shift from learning improvement to practicing it together. Staff translate their thinking into simple, usable documentation and learn how to share work clearly. Improvement becomes visible, grounded, and connected to real decisions.

Leaders learn how to reinforce these systems without micromanaging — through clear expectations, coaching, and steady presence.

In this phase, I:

• Coach individuals and small groups on improvement documentation
• Prepare staff to present work clearly and confidently
• Facilitate focused group learning and catchball
• Support leaders in witnessing work and removing barriers
• Create visibility without performative reporting

Prepare leaders to take ownership of the improvement system.

In this phase, leaders begin preparing to take ownership of the improvement system. I synthesize patterns observed across teams, surface system-level barriers, and support leaders in making the cross-cutting decisions that unlock the next level of progress.

Rather than saving this work for the end, leadership engages in regular sense-making conversations throughout the engagement. By this stage, nothing is “new” — it is simply clearer.

By the end of Stage B, leaders and teams understand the improvement system well enough to begin sustaining it together.

‍In this phase, I:

• Synthesize patterns and recurring system barriers
• Identify bottlenecks beyond staff control
• Facilitate leadership sense-making conversations
• Coach leaders on sequencing and change readiness
• Prepare leaders for the transition to internal ownership