Definition of Improvement Science

Improvement science is an evolving field of study focused on the theories, methods, and practices that facilitate or hinder organizational efforts to continuously improve performance.  

Improvement science:

  • Is an applied science, primarily concerned with solving practical problems.

  • Is interdisciplinary drawing on clinical science, systems theory, psychology, statistics, and other fields.

  • Contends that improvement comes from a combination of improvement skills and subject matter expertise.

The challenges we face in education, health care, and social welfare are multifaceted, reflecting the complex systems in which we live. Out of urgency and often the best of intentions, organizations implement new policies, technologies, and other innovations to tackle these issues, and hope for the best. However, addressing these challenges requires more than heroic individuals with silver-bullet solutions. We need teams with diverse expertise that know how to learn together and use their collective knowledge to redesign our social systems for the improved well-being of our communities.

Journey to Improvement serves as a road map for teams that are ready to follow a different path to better outcomes. Drawing on their decades of on-the-ground experience, the authors walk teams through the phases of an improvement journey from launching the team to trying ideas in practice to spreading those that work. This book highlights the personal, relational, and technical aspects of taking an improvement science approach and illustrates these ideas through real-world examples from across the social sector and around the world.

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Introduction to Improvement Science: Reading List

We’ve compiled a list of foundational reading materials regarding the field of improvement science: