RE: Continuous or continual improvement

["Julian Simcox" <julian.simcox@blueyonder.co.uk>]

"Continual suggests an unceasing succession which may go on and on, but is
not without interruptions. Continuous, which may apply to time or space,
suggests an uninterrupted continuity"

Longman dictionary


some who have studied calculus may use the word continuous to mean equal
increments of change over equal time periods -
by contrast the word continual usually refers to intermittent and unequal,
yet still frequent and unceasing, changes over time

whilst continuous change can happen in a mechanical or automated process,
such as the flight of a missile, any process or system involving human
intervention is bound to be discontinuous, in that it occurs in fits and
starts, in an unpredictable manner

i often use the words : improvement, development, learning, innovation,
change  - as synonymous.
and prefer to see all of these as processes - rather than as one-off
incidents

anyone who reflects on how they learned to swim, ride a bike, juggle, or
play a musical instrument - will know that learning goes in spurts, and that
there are frequent plateaux

PDSA too is like this - a discontinuous process

isn't this why shewhart used the term continual improvement?


julian simcox

bristol UK