LCS - Blog

Why CI Professionals are Formalising Their Expertise

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:21:48 GMT

After ten or fifteen years leading improvement programmes, coaching teams, and delivering measurable results, most CI professionals know they're good at what they do. Their colleagues know it too. But when it comes to proving that expertise outside of your immediate network, experience alone can only take you so far.

How to Build the Business Case for Lean Accreditation

Catrin Archer — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:40:36 GMT

If you lead a Continuous Improvementfunction, you already know the value of what your team delivers. The challenge is getting the rest of the organisation to see it, and to fund it.

Top Tips for Writing a Winning LCS Awards Submission

Pia Graham — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:26:29 GMT

Insights from the LCS Awards Judges

Entering the LCS Awards is a valuable opportunity to showcase improvement work, gain recognition, and reflect on your journey. But what separates a good submission from a winning one?

CI Conversations: What Improvement Practitioners Are Really Saying About AI

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 08:36:54 GMT

This week marked the first monthly ‘CI Conversations’ session from the Lean Competency System (LCS). An informal space for improvement practitioners to come together, share challenges, and learn from each other.

The topic for our first session was: AI in Continuous Improvement.

Below we have pulled six of the key themes that were discussed.

AI in Continuous Improvement: Your Questions Answered

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:10:48 GMT

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation to real-world application across organisations, and many Continuous Improvement (CI) practitioners are exploring how it can support improvement work in practice.

In our recent webinar, Tim Edwards, SME at LCS, and Zoe Hawkes, Head of Continuous Improvement at Computacenter, explored how AI and Continuous Improvement can work together in real organisational settings.

Drawing on their experience leading improvement initiatives across complex organisations, the session examined how AI can support improvement work, the risks organisations must manage, and the behaviours required to adopt the technology responsibly.

One theme came through consistently during the session: AI works best when built on strong Lean foundations. Organisations with mature improvement cultures are often better positioned to adopt AI because they already prioritise stable processes, quality data, structured problem solving, and continual learning.

During the webinar, attendees raised thoughtful questions covering leadership, governance, sustainability, and the future of human expertise in an increasingly automated world.

Below is a selection of the live Q&A discussion from the session, capturing the questions many CI teams are currently exploring as AI adoption accelerates.

Continuous Improvement Is the Missing Operating System for AI

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:09:42 GMT

AI is everywhere right now. Every day we are teased with headlines of a utopian future: unprecedented productivity, radical efficiency gains, and entirely new ways of working. However, at the same time, we continue to see stories about AI failures: hallucinations, bias, questionable outputs, and high-profile ethical missteps.

For improvement leaders, that creates a slightly confusing picture. Are we looking at the next great productivity revolution, or a technology that still hasn’t quite found its footing?

The reality is a little more grounded than either extreme. AI on its own will not create better performance. For that, we need a system upon which effective AI use can be built. And that is exactly why Continuous Improvement (CI) has such an important role to play in how organisations adopt and scale AI.

Moving Beyond Experimentation

Across most organisations, AI is currently appearing in pockets of experimentation.

You might see teams using it to draft reports or summarise documents. Analysts are beginning to test models for forecasting or scenario analysis. Enthusiastic individuals are automating small parts of their day-to-day work.

None of this is a bad thing. Experimentation is healthy, and it’s often how innovation begins. But experimentation without a system behind it tends to lead to fragmentation. Different teams try different tools, governance is inconsistent, risks emerge in unexpected places, and the benefits rarely scale beyond the original experiment.

The real question organisations need to ask is not simply “Where can we use AI?” but “What system needs to be in place for AI to work well?”

That is where Continuous Improvement comes in.

The Future of Continuous Improvement Learning

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 12:51:19 GMT

Earlier this month, I facilitated an in-person workshop in Cardiff for our Level 3 members of the Lean Competency System (LCS) community, hosted by Network Rail.

We brought senior Continuous Improvement leaders together to explore a pressing question:

How must Lean and Continuous Improvement learning evolve to remain relevant, credible, and impactful in a rapidly changing world of work and learning?

It quickly became clear that Lean and CI learning is entering a period of strategic repositioning. This blog explores three themes that stood out most strongly and will inform my upcoming whitepaper on the future of CI and Lean learning.

LCS Awards 2026 — Now Open: Celebrate Excellence in Continuous Improvement

Pia Graham — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:12:47 GMT

We’re thrilled to announce that entries for the LCS Awards 2026 are now open! Our annual Awards celebrate the organisations, teams and individuals shaping the future of Lean and Continuous Improvement — recognising measurable impact, innovation, leadership and culture.

In the world of improvement, change isn’t just about tools — it’s about people, mindset, and outcomes that last. The LCS Awards are a chance to showcase your achievements, share learning with peers, and be part of a community committed to excellence.

The Compass for the AI Age: How the LCS is Shaping the Future of Continuous Improvement

Tedwards@leancompetency.org (Tim Edwards) — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 13:22:16 GMT

The Compass for the AI Age: How the LCS Is Shaping the Future of Continuous Improvement

In a world of algorithms and automation, the LCS provides what AI can’t: direction, discipline, and humanity in improvement.

In our Whitepaper, ‘Adapt or Be Automated: What AI Means for Improvement Professionals’, we explored the threats and opportunities facing the CI profession.

Inside the LCS Awards 2025 – with the Ever-So-Lean Podcast

Pia Graham — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:43:59 GMT

The LCS Awards 2025 were a powerful celebration of what’s possible when Continuous Improvement is truly lived — not just talked about.

Held at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Awards brought together improvement practitioners, leaders, and organisations from across sectors to recognise outstanding commitment to developing people, building capability, and creating lasting impact.

To capture the spirit of the evening, a very special LCS Awards Celebration episode of the Ever So Lean Podcast was recorded.