From grimoire
Systematically implements process improvements using the PDCA cycle: define problems, identify root causes, run small-scale pilots, and standardize gains before scaling.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/grimoire:apply-pdcaThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Run a disciplined four-phase cycle — Plan, Do, Check, Act — to make improvements systematically, learn from each iteration, and lock in gains before scaling.
Run a disciplined four-phase cycle — Plan, Do, Check, Act — to make improvements systematically, learn from each iteration, and lock in gains before scaling.
Adopted by: ISO 9001 (adopted by 1.1 million organizations in 170 countries as of 2022), Toyota Production System (Kaizen), Six Sigma (DMAIC is a direct extension), NHS (UK National Health Service quality improvement), U.S. Department of Defense, and standard curriculum in every accredited operations management program globally. Impact: Toyota's application of PDCA-based Kaizen is directly credited with its position as the world's most efficient major automaker — Toyota's defect rate is consistently 50–70% lower than industry average (J.D. Power IQS longitudinal data). ISO 9001 meta-analyses show certified organizations achieve 15–30% reduction in defect rates and measurable customer satisfaction improvement within two years of adoption (Psomas & Antony, 2015, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management). Why best: Most improvement attempts skip the Check phase — they implement a change and assume it worked. PDCA enforces measurement of actual results against predicted results before locking in or scaling the change. This prevents three failure modes: improvements that don't actually work, improvements that work but create side-effects, and improvements that are scaled before they're understood.
Sources: W. Edwards Deming "Out of the Crisis" (1986); Shewhart "Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control" (1939); ISO 9001:2015 §10.3; Psomas & Antony (2015) IJQRM
Support ticket resolution: Plan: current 48hr average, root cause is manual triage, predicted fix is automated routing, target 30hr average in 2 weeks. Do: pilot automated routing with one team for 2 weeks. Check: average drops to 31hr, one edge case category routes incorrectly. Act: fix routing rule for edge case, standardize automated routing for all teams, document the exception rule.
Manufacturing defect: Plan: 3% defect rate on Line 4, root cause is temperature variance in step 3, predicted fix is tighter thermostat tolerance, target <1% in one production run. Do: adjust one machine on Line 4 for one shift. Check: defects drop to 0.8%. Act: update maintenance spec for all machines, retrain operators, update quality checklist.
npx claudepluginhub jeffreytse/grimoire --plugin grimoireReduces defects by eliminating variance via the DMAIC cycle. Applies to software: define criteria, measure coverage, analyze failures, improve code, add CI gates.
Unified PDCA cycle management — plan, design, do, analyze, iterate, report. Per-feature 9-phase workflow (pm→plan→design→do→check→act→qa→report→archive).
Guides incremental code improvement, refactoring, error prevention, and standardization. Use when improving code quality or discussing process improvements.