A Student's Implementation of CPI

One of the key initial understandings of Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) is that improvement is a journey not a destination. My personal journey with CPI has been extremely rewarding and has substantially enriched my current state of life.

I was first introduced to CPI philosophy by my father. Some of my early lessons include my dad executing a list of five words beginning with the letter "s" — sort, store, shine, standardize and sustain.These early lessons sparked my interest and started me on a journey of discovery that has impacted my current state more than I could have ever imagined.

Up to this stage in my process as a student I have been given several internship opportunities. I have been able to network with numerous professional practitioners of CPI. Many career building doors have opened because of my knowledge of CPI. During each of these professional opportunities I have been fortunate enough to add value to my employer by applying CPI principles that has impacted the natural work group.

Even though I have been fortunate enough to have great career building opportunities because of CPI, the greatest impact CPI has had on my current state is my ability to be a successful student. Being a student is a process and as such, improvement principles must be applied in order to reach an ideal future state. The ideal future state as a student could be graduation or being accepted to graduate school. CPI allows me to apply principles to bridge the gap between my current state as an undergraduate and my ideal future as a Utah State University graduate. I am constantly looking to recognize and eliminate waste, unevenness, and overburden in the way I accomplish my responsibilities as a student. I look for ways to Plan Do Check and Adjust the process of gaining necessary knowledge to succeed in my classes. I implement the "five S's" my father gave me in my study area, backpack and notebooks to be more efficient, and I consistently track daily goals that will allow me to move closer to my ideal future state. I allow myself to pull information from my classes which allows for my experience to be much more enjoyable. All of these CPI principles are unavoidable side-effects of a sincere passion for improvement given to me by my father, and the continuous improvement philosophy. I will never be the most effective student at this university but due to the continuous process improvement philosophy I will always be trying to improve.

CPI is an amazing philosophy that can give opportunities to anyone who is willing to learn it. CPI can positively impact any industry. I would invite anyone to take the journey of discovery of continuous improvement.   

— Ryan Willis
     Lean Leaders Club