Continual improvement tickets that cite observations, not vanity

Improvement cultures starve when every proposal demands a chart. One cohort banned charts for the first draft of an improvement ticket, forcing narratives that quoted what people said during ride‑alongs. Charts returned later, but only where they answered a question the narrative already raised.

Teams also benefited from naming stop conditions before experiments began. Sponsors signed small statements acknowledging what would trigger a pause. That language reduced sunk‑cost defensiveness when experiments underperformed.

The closing note addresses capacity: improvement forums shrank to monthly when weekly meetings produced duplicate updates. Smaller calendars did not slow progress because async writeups carried detail. The rhythm change mattered more than any new template color.