Most of us have heard the term personal improvement, but what does it really mean to us? Reference to this term seems to be confined to factors pertaining to such abstract terms as, emotions, success, mind, goal setting, health, and other such words; but not much is said about other factors that help to bring about positive development in a person’s life.

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I say ‘positive’ development because I must stress the difference in the meaning of the words improvement and development. These two words are not really synonymous and cannot generally be used interchangeably. Something can develop from a good state into a bad one, or from a bad state into a good one; whereas nothing can ever improve from bad to worse! At this point I must mention that there is also a difference between the terms self improvement and personal improvement. Self improvement is personally enhancing your self; for example, your health, appearance, education, and such like; whereas personal improvement goes deeper than that. It embodies all of self improvement as well as benefits gained from your personal possessions, belongings, and involvement which contribute to your well being and upliftment, thereby enhancing your personal life. While personal improvement can aptly be defined by the abstract words mentioned above, and others such as, stress, inspiration, education, time managment, to name a few more, I view it from a broader perspective. According to the Dictionary, the adjective ‘personal’ means “concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality”; and the word ‘improvement’ means “a change for the better.” From the foregoing, when these two words are put together, they can only mean the effect that anything has on a person’s life and personality in a postive manner; in other words, the term covers anything under the sun that can affect a person so as to bring about a change for the better in that person’s life. Hence, I feel that the meaning also encompasses your livelihood, possessions, encounters, surroundings, lifestyle, actions, and all other areas in which you may be personally involved; for, as long as you are able to attach a personal possessive adjective such as ‘my’ appropriately to anything, ownership is suggested; that object becomes personal to you and some measure of benefit is, or could be, derived. One might ask, “What does my work at home business, real estate, or electronics, etc., have to do with my personal improvement?” Think about it. Do you expect to improve your lifestyle by getting involved in any of these or any other business for that matter? If you do, then you do expect some profit or personal benefit for your efforts. You work, obtain money, purchase whatever you wish – maybe a place of residence – and furnish it with whatever you desire so that you may enjoy the rewards of your labor. Now, can that property have the experience of being owned by you or anyone else? It cannot care who lives in it, whether you pay for it or not, whether it is equipped with electricity, whether it has a roof or floor; it cannot enjoy the good things of life; it is never happy or sad. Why? Because it is inanimate, it has no life; therefore, it cannot have emotions. Who becomes emotional? You, of course! Those things affect you personally. If I sent you a personal letter, it may not have anything to do with your physical self, but it may have to do with your finances; therefore it is indeed personal; it does not affect your body, but it certainly could affect your mind positively or negatively. I guess that by now you have got the point. No? Take a look at science and technology. Would you classify them under personal improvement? Maybe not. Now, think about it: Nothing can be accomplished by man without human involvement – hence, personal involvement. The inception and continuance of every venture is totally dependent upon the talent and ability of people. Even after being put into operation, technology cannot be fully functional without people and it is all for the benefit of the humana race. God has given mankind dominion over everything in the world, so as long as we have life, everything in this world affects us directly or indirectly in some small or great way for good (or evil because of sin). Needless to say that from creation, people have been involved in every facet of life irrespective of what category. The increase in knowledge throughout the ages has always been for the advancement and benefit of mankind. Human resource or workforce is a key ingredient for the progress and advancement of any business. There could be no human resources without personal involvement. Who have benefited from all the innovations throughout the ages? Must I elaborate? I really do not think it is necessary. An employer takes into consideration, certain characters of the employee – habits, capabilities, ethics, experience, education, skill, potential (as far as the advancement of the employer’s business is concerned). The employer is interested in what the employee can contribute to the promotion of the business and for his (the employer’s) improvement. Why do you think that an employer likes to engage someone with a good skill, education and learning? Equipment and technology cannot raise the standard of an organization unless there is human involvement. Who gets the reward from the profit of a business? Is it the business or its owner? We all know that a business cannot spend money; so when it is said that the profit belongs to the business (What a ‘laff’!), that is only a front! When that business makes a profit or loss, a human being is either happy or sad. Anything that you are involved with, be it your vehicle or your job, as long as you can gain some sort of benefit, it enhances your life. Yes, you can achieve personal improvement from your possessions and involvement. Perhaps I am alone in my thinking on this subject, but I maintain that anything (yes, anything!) that brings you benefit from a good source, enhances your life and contributes to your personal improvement. Go ahead, work towards your personal improvement and enjoy life! Just my opini

The computers were really helpful in our daily living. It help us in almost everything, giving us all the information we needed in our life.

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Computers were designed to make everything easier and if you know how to use them then you know just how much easier they can make everything in your life. When you are ready to map out a home improvement project nothing is a bigger help than good home improvement software. Learning how to use home improvement software will not only help you do a better job planning the project but home improvement software can also help you to do a better job when you are building the project as well.With the advances made in technology it is possible for anyone to use home improvement software and taking the time to become familiar with home improvement software is a project management skill you will always be glad you acquired. Even if you have never used a computer before in your life it would be well worth your time and effort to learn how to use one and then learn how to use some good home improvement software. You will be very glad you did.The first convenient use of home improvement software is to be able to see the project on screen as you are planning it. You can see how your improvement will look with the rest of the house, plan color schemes, and even make changes to your own design all while seeing how it would look when it is complete.The ability of home improvement software to take your ideas and get them in a format that you can use even before you put a single hammer to a nail can save you a lot of time, money, and aggravation and can even help you if you need to discuss your changes with any engineers in your local government. Using home improvement software in the planning stages is the new way to plan and it makes everything so much easier.Not Just About the PicturesNow that your home improvement software knows what you want to do, it can also give you estimates on materials needed to do the project. It can even give an estimated timeline on how long each phase of your project should take to complete.It can help you to make sure important things like load bearing walls and other structural elements are taken into account and can help you create a budget for your project. About the only thing home improvement software cannot do in your project is the actual work. Something tells me they are working on that but in the meantime coming into the computer age can help immensely with your home improvement project.

Lean and Six Sigma, while effective business tools, possess certain gaps that lead to reductions in ROI; Flawless Execution, a simple, scalable continuous improvement process taught to fighter pilots in the world of military aviation, bridges the gaps found between the two, while encouraging development and promoting leadership and team building strategies to get the job done right.

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Created in the 1980s by Motorola and popularized in the ’90s at GE, Six Sigma has been shown to improve processes and reduce error rates, but does it still stand up to today’s fast-paced, hostile business environment? In comparison, Flawless Execution, a continuous improvement process perfected over many years from fighter pilot training principles, may be a simpler yet more effective business performance model.

In the past two decades, thousands of companies have implemented continuous improvement (CI) methodologies in an effort to eliminate waste, reduce response time, simplify the design of both products and processes, and improve quality and customer service. The primary objectives of these programs are to reduce operating costs, improve customer satisfaction (increase revenue), and drive a cultural change. Aside from the growing popularity of Flawless Execution, the most common continuous improvement initiatives utilize Lean, Six Sigma, or a combination of each.

Lean and Six Sigma are great tools when used appropriately but, by themselves, are not the ‘magic’ bullet that many companies hope will drive cost out of their organizations and decrease inefficiencies. There are some significant gaps that must be filled in order to facilitate and amplify the success of these and other continuous improvement initiatives. Four of these gaps are (1) poor alignment with the organization’s strategy, (2) overutilization, (3) difficulty in changing culture, and (4) absence of an execution process. These four gaps will be addressed, and we will explore a methodology that can help bridge them: Flawless Execution.

Continuous Improvement Methods That Encourage Development

Continuous Improvement methodologies are generally tactical tools used to improve a particular process. A team can significantly reduce the cycle time of a process or cut its defects in half and consider the project successful. Though successful, sometimes these projects fail to move the needle of the organization in the right direction. They either fail to show up on the profit and loss statement or do not significantly contribute toward driving the corporation to its strategic future.

There are components in the Define phase of Six Sigma that seek to align a project with the customer or organization’s CTQ’s (Critical to Quality). Tools such as QFDs (Quality Functional Deployment) and CTQ drilldowns are often used for that purpose. In either case, there is rarely a standard methodology used to ensure that the continuous improvement team is working on projects that will help the organization reach its Future Picture.

Developing a Future Picture of Business Goals

Flawless Execution is an organizational development and improvement model derived from proven methodologies used by elite military forces. In business, the model is used to transform strategy into action. It provides the framework for the development of an adaptive strategy, the creation of relevant projects/missions, and a battle rhythm that drives the organization toward a Future Picture.

Utilizing effects based strategy development and the military concepts of Open Planning and Systems Analysis, Flawless Execution works from the Future backwards to determine the right projects to tackle. The Flawless Execution model utilizes a methodical, practical, and metrics-driven approach to develop the Future Picture of the organization. This Future Picture is what the company will look like in 2-3 years in 12 areas ranging from finance to corporate culture.

After the Future Picture is established, the FLEX model requires that the team determine the key Centers of Gravity for both the Internal and External Systems. These Centers of Gravity are leverage points that when effort is applied to them give the biggest return on investment and significantly alter the system to the proposed future state. Projects are developed to affect these Centers of Gravity. As a result, there is a direct line of sight between where the company wants to be in the Future and the projects/missions that it needs to complete to get there. The process is practical and scalable and can be implemented at the corporate level, in smaller business units, and in small teams.

Once an organization has determined the processes that need to be improved or projects that should be executed, the next question to answer is which tool should be used. A company armed with continuous improvement resources has at its disposal a team with a myriad of tools to solve a variety of problems. Six Sigma and Lean are comprised of a collection of tools that can be utilized for various jobs. Some projects require 90% of the tools while others may only require 25%. This is the beauty and also the drawback of these methodologies. This creates several problems in an organization.

As a whole, both Lean and Six Sigma could be creatively used to tackle most processes or projects. Some projects or process improvements don’t require statistical analysis or a team of individuals and continuous improvement experts five weeks, including pre-work to complete. In these cases, the organization simply needs knowledgeable individuals using a structured process to brainstorm and implement solutions in a day or two. Though Six Sigma and Lean could be used; they are significantly underutilized in these instances. Flawless Execution fills this gap.

The Usefulness of Flawless Execution in All Projects

The engine of the Flawless Execution model is the Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief cycle. This cycle is currently used by elite military officers to improve performance in the zero-tolerance-for-error world of combat. The model is scalable and relatively easy to understand and implement. The Flawless Execution cycle is perfectly suited for those low hanging projects in areas where Lean and Six Sigma may be too robust.

The Planning segment of the cycle incorporates six basic steps to develop a quick, workable plan. The first step is developing a clear, measurable, and achievable objective. Next, the team brainstorms threats to accomplishing that objective and resources that can be used to achieve it. Lessons Learned from similar projects are also considered. The team then utilizes a unique process to develop an action plan with specific accountability. This process utilizes ‘out of the box’ brainstorming in conjunction with outside criticism to develop a fully functional plan in a short time period. Finally, a contingency plan is developed to handle the uncontrollable external threats to the mission that may arise.

The end result of the “Plan” component is the development of a course of action to either execute projects or improve processes with minimal data requirements. The “Briefing” component ensures that the plan is adequately communicated to the team. The “Execute” segment provides tools to remove the primary barrier to mission accomplishment in today’s demanding workplace, Task Saturation, which is defined as the perception or reality of having too much to do without enough time, tools, and resources to accomplish the mission.

The last segment of the Flawless Execution model is the “Debrief.” This phase completely differentiates the Flawless Execution Model from other continuous improvement processes. At the completion of the project, the team debriefs the actions that took place during execution. Debrief analyzes the root causes for the major project successes and failures. The Lessons Learned cycle back into the “Plan” step in future missions in order to continually improve.

In contrast, the tools/concepts introduced by the Six Sigma and Lean continuous improvement initiatives generally require that a separate team of individuals drive these improvements. The continuous improvement team and infrastructure can generally be very costly. The presence of these continuous improvement teams also gives the perception that the tools are too complicated to be utilized effectively by the individual. As a result, individuals are trained extensively in 2-3 week certification courses, which add to the costs of the projects.

Closing in on the Gap

Many projects fail because the solutions were identified but not effectively implemented. Some solutions are complicated enough that some standard process should be applied for implementation. Flawless Execution, by its very nature, provides a framework that increases the chances that the solutions will be implemented with minimum error. It adds rigor and discipline of thought to the execution of continuous improvement solutions.

The simple, execution-focused approach of the Flawless Execution model can shore up some of the gaps in existing continuous improvement programs as well as serve as the foundation for improvements in others. Its versatility and scalability are also powerful characteristics. Flawless Execution is quick to produce results and useful in virtually every process and its toolkit can prove to be an invaluable asset to