continuous-improvement

# Continuous Improvement Skill

Patterns for implementing continuous improvement.

## PDCA Cycle

### Plan-Do-Check-Act

```markdown
## PDCA Framework

### Plan
1. Identify improvement opportunity
2. Analyze current state
3. Define target state
4. Create action plan

### Do
1. Implement change on small scale
2. Document what happens
3. Collect data
4. Note any problems

### Check
1. Analyze results
2. Compare to target
3. Identify what worked
4. Learn from failures

### Act
1. Standardize successful changes
2. Share learnings
3. Plan next cycle
4. Abandon what didn't work
```

### Example PDCA

```markdown
## PDCA: Reduce Code Review Time

### Plan
**Problem:** Code reviews take 3+ days on average
**Target:** Reduce to < 1 day
**Root Cause:** No SLA, large PRs, unclear ownership

**Actions:**
1. Set 24-hour review SLA
2. Limit PR size to 400 lines
3. Auto-assign reviewers

### Do
**Implementation:**
- Communicated new policy
- Added PR size linting
- Set up auto-assignment bot
- Tracked metrics for 2 weeks

### Check
**Results:**
- Average review time: 3.2 days → 0.8 days ✅
- PR size: 650 lines → 280 lines
- Review quality: Maintained
- Team satisfaction: Improved

### Act
**Standardize:**
- Added to team handbook
- Created onboarding material
- Set up monitoring dashboard
- Sharing with other teams
```

## Kaizen

### Continuous Small Improvements

```markdown
## Kaizen Principles

### 1. Question Everything
- Why do we do it this way?
- What problem does this solve?
- Is there a better way?

### 2. Eliminate Waste
- Remove unnecessary steps
- Automate repetitive tasks
- Reduce wait times

### 3. Empower Teams
- Everyone can suggest improvements
- No idea is too small
- Celebrate incremental progress

### 4. Go to Gemba
- Observe actual work
- Talk to people doing the work
- Understand real challenges
```

### Kaizen Board

```markdown
## Improvement Ideas Board

### Ideas (Anyone can add)
- [ ] Automate test data setup
- [ ] Add keyboard shortcuts to UI
- [ ] Simp