Continual and Continuous Improvement

[Rip Stauffer <ripstaur@vabch.com>]

I am stuck...

I attended a seminar by Heero Haqueboord a few years ago. I think he
told us that Dr. Deming had felt that the term "continual" was probably
less than correct, because continual refers to something that happens on
a continuum. Continuous, on the other hand, refers to something that
happens as it happens; it's consistent but discrete. We do something,
study it, improve it, and start over. It's also possible that he told us
just the other thing...maybe he said "Continual" is the more correct
term and refers to step functions while "continuous" refers to
continuous functions. Maybe my memory is bad. However, Heero himself
constantly discusses "continuous" improvement in his own book, so I
assume that my former assertion reflects what he told us.

Someone just asked me which term was correct, and now I can't remember.
I'm confused, because I have often seen "the continuous case" cited for
areas under a curve in statistics. Additionally, Don Wheeler and Bill
Scherkenbach each use "Continual" in the titles of books. Does anyone
know which way it is? 

Rip Stauffer
Shoes and a hat
ripstaur@vabch.com
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