In the 1990s, business, the military, and manufacturing were instructed on the importance of Edward Deming's theory of need for "continuous quality improvement of processes".  In reality, his theory had much to do with the strategic planning phenomena that continues even today.

Continuous quality improvement of processes made a lot of sense and led to quality teams and improvements in manufacturing, customer services, business practices, and more.  It even played a role in the advent of the identification of best practices that are still popular today.

But what Edward Deming (or anyone else for that matter) did not articulate that may be even more important is the requirement for "continuous quality improvement of personnel" especially in leadership and management positions.  If we want our businesses to be exceptional, why do we keep hiring and retaining average people.  I cover this in some depth in my new book, Executive Courage....  Of course, there are reasons to retain some average people because of their loyalty, attitudes, and work ethic, but generally we need to be upgrading the team continuously.  Moving average performers to the bench or retirement takes executive courage and the push back can be significant, but my experience is that in a short period of time the work force sees the improvement in productivity.