Self-control and The Model for Improvement
Self-control has an implicit Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, too. If you or your team have the ingredients of self-control, here’s the implied PDSA sequence:
Plan: You know what to do, you have a standard procedure for your work, along with expected results.
Do: You carry out the work.
Study: You compare the work and the results with the standard and expected results.
Act: If your work and results match the standard and expected results, continue. If not, make an appropriate change.
The Act step reveals an issue—what if you don’t have a way to align actual work and results with the standard and expected results? That means you and your team are not yet autonomously in control of the quality of the work. Responsibility for quality then lies with others—in most organizations, you will need to connect with managers who can bring skills and make connections to close the gap between actual and expected work and results.
