CIC Newsletter Volume 16 – Excerpt: Message from a Continuous Improvement Innovator

“ I am honored to be with you today at your commencement because we share something
in common – our love of learning and improvement. It is always a wonderful feeling to know
that you have learned something new every day. It can be as trivial as a new saying you read
from a magazine or a book. Or it can be as complex as finding a critical solution to a
long-running problem. Learning is enriching, it’s empowering, and if you put your heart into it,
it just keeps getting better.

Someone once said :

If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you.

If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.

We are here now because all of you have shown the determination and passion to learn.
You made a decision that although you have learned so much while working for several years,
what you know is not enough. You made a decision that the way to move forward with your
careers is to spend time studying, understanding and learning new things.  You made that
decision to invest in yourselves and I am absolutely sure you will reap its rewards. So hats off
to all of you.

We are also here today because  Land Bank  and its Management believe in learning.
And that is a wonderful gift for any employee. Organizations invest heavily in branding,
advertising, marketing, new equipment and infrastructure. But I am always most impressed
with companies who invest in their people. Your company understands that by investing in you,
you too will invest in them. You will invest your time, they will have your commitment and you
would have earned more tools and knowledge to excel. It is really a win-win proposition.

 I am  a very active proponent of quality and continuous improvement. I have spent many years
learning about it and honing my craft. I make a living advocating things like TQM, kaizen and
six sigma. I have applied them many times and if done well and with much commitment, yes,
they do make things substantially better. We are also offering this course in CIC where you
learn many tools and approaches to drive improvement. But it is not just about memorizing
formulas or theories. It is about developing that thirst to get better and taking action for it.
That is where real learning and improvement happens.

By being here, you have taken another major step towards learning and self-development.
Please do not stop. There is much to learn. There is much to do. And there are so many
new things to see. “