For many reasons, corporations that can’t figure out how to continuously improve become non-competitive and sometimes go out of business. Competition is never idle. Therefore, companies must not only improve, but they must also do so at a more rapid pace than the competition if they want to keep existing.

Even if a corporation has a competitive advantage and high margins right now, they will lose those if they don’t make continuous improvement in their company’s DNA. That’s because their competitors are consistently making an effort to improve their processes, so they can deliver a better product at a better price.

According to the CEO survey conducted by John Ballis, father of M.A.R.I.S., the two main reasons for failure in continuous improvement are ineffective communication and using different approaches, methodologies, and toolsets repeatedly.

The CEO may acquire new tools to improve their existing process, but this is not a guarantee that continuous improvement will happen or that the company will stay competitive in the years to come. The answer is not something that comes from the outside, but from teaching managers and employees to continuously improve.

Continuous improvement is a pursuit to constantly evolve into something better. It’s a never-ending cycle of moving the business process toward lower operational costs and increased customer satisfaction.

This cycle brings the steering wheel back to the CEO, the board, and the workforce, who are the best people to introduce improvement in the company. Their unity encourages them to think of the most impactful ideas that will make the company stand out from the competition.

In this book, John Ballis coaches CEOs and managers on how to create a highly engaged employee culture that will ultimately lead to a state of sustainability. This kind of culture will help the corporation sustain high satisfaction scores from customers because their workforce delivers products that are on time and complete and have the best quality.

Even without the CEO being physically there, they can be assured that their employees are capable of improving every day, every month, and in the years to come. This is a state of sustainability that far outlives the CEO.