Life is an epic adventure even when it seemingly is a series of unrelated events.  So while I wax a bit philosophical, I suggest that this thread of thought is important to process improvement personnel.  Important because when process improvement and measurement personnel view life as an adventure I believe they will be far less likely to view the day to day grind with a victim mentality.  I classify an outlook as a “victim mentality” as a point of view that classifies outcomes as outside of your control.  Therefore in other words “stuff happens” is a mantra.  This point of view is very easy to fall into when you are trying to influence people and organizations without direct authority.  To combat this deadly (from a professional point of view) I would suggest that process improvement and measurement personnel need to embrace life, need to look for the possibilities in all situations, and seek opportunities to increase the impact they can have on their organizations as well as their personnel knowledge base.

Not a new revelation but sitting in the Malaysian Airlines lounge in Kuala Lumpur reviewing events past, present and future left me with the message that we all must grasp each new experience as set of new possibilities.  New possibilities to deliver value and possibilities to increase our personal knowledge base.  We are challenged to look for ways to make every experience work for our self and for those around us.  We must leave the world around us in a better position than when we originally touched it.