Simply Speaking Shorts #7: Process over imagination?

Can PDCA improve creativity?

PDCA stands for Plan–Do–Check–Act, a four-step management method used for continuous improvement of processes and products.

The parts are distinct and in a continuum :

1. Plan – Identify a problem or opportunity and devise a plan for improvement.

2. Do – Implement the plan on a small scale to test its effectiveness.

3. Check – Monitor and evaluate the results against expected outcomes.

4. ⁠Act – If successful, implement on a larger scale. If not, revise and repeat the cycle.

It’s widely used in quality management, lean manufacturing, and business process improvement.

But is the PDCA method suited for a world of flux, disruption and universal lowering of entry barriers?

I posit that there are several issues with it.

First it crawls. Simply too slow for fast-paced environments. The cycle emphasises gradual improvement, which may not keep up with industries needing rapid innovation.

Second, it is mindlessly linear and unimaginative. Real-world problems are often complex and non-linear. PDCA assumes a neat cycle, which may not reflect messy realities. Logic can’t create magic.

Third, often the issues are about weak execution and the lack of ‘doing’ in the ‘Do’ phase. You may plan and check thoroughly but fail to implement effectively due to lack of resources or commitment.

Lastly, thinking in incremental terms means filtering out breakthrough innovation. It works best for known, repeatable processes. For ambiguous or chaotic issues, more adaptive methods like agile or design thinking are better.

Creativity needs more than Sudoku heuristics.

There are numerous real-world examples where the PDCA cycle struggled or was ineffective, especially in business and manufacturing:

General Motors invested in this way in the 1990s to compete with Japanese automakers. Predictably it got bogged down in corporate bureaucracy. By the time changes were implemented, customer needs had already shifted. GM continued losing market share.

I have written about how Kodak’s failure was more than responding alertly to digital imagery. It was about the internal methods and motivation. Kodak used PDCA to improve film products and internal processes. They missed the disruptive shift in consumer behavior and digital technology. Kodak declared bankruptcy in 2012, as more adaptive companies moved quickly using more iterative, customer-focused strategies.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner project used PDCA to manage global outsourcing. The ‘plan’ didn’t plan for coordination complexity. The outsourcing failed due to quality and supply delays. It ended in huge delays and massive cost overruns.

PDCA works best in stable, repeatable environments, like routine quality control. But in disruptive, fast-moving, or highly innovative fields, it can fall behind.

It often becomes Purely Delusional Convenient Actions.

When you are creating, the answers emerge from imagination and an inherent urge.

Teresa Amabile is a distinguished American professor and researcher best known for her groundbreaking work in the field of creativity, motivation, and organizational behavior.

She is a Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School, where her research focused on how everyday life inside organizations can influence creativity and productivity. Her work bridges psychology and business, making her one of the foremost authorities on how creativity is fostered or hindered in work environments.

Amabile’s studies show that work environments that foster autonomy, encourage risk-taking, and reduce unnecessary constraints can significantly enhance creativity.

Conversely, authoritarian diktats, strict performance evaluations, excessive time pressure, micro-management, and lack of support for risk-taking can diminish creativity.

Creativity depends on the environment more than the individual.

The key to creativity is not intelligence or technical skills alone, but motivation and environment.

Creativity is a rare thing. You are lucky if you grow it. You are unlucky if you throw it and you are idiotic if you blow it .

Shubhranshu Singh is vice president, marketing - domestic & IB, CVBU, Tata Motors. He writes Simply Speaking, a weekly column on Storyboard18. Views expressed are personal.

Read More: Simply Speaking Shorts #6: The “—er positioning” - Logic loses to Magic