Heirloom Improvement Pilot
Start with one team and a response promise people can trust.
The supported product pilot is a six-week, optionally eight-week cycle for one small operational team. A larger facilitated service remains available when discovery, program design, and broader engagement are needed.
Supported product pilot
A contained way to act on knowledge one team already has.
Use the product with an intact team, locally actionable work, and a manager who can respond. This is the smallest supported pilot, not a facilitator-heavy portfolio program.
Common triggers
- Recurring operational friction
- An underperforming improvement or suggestion process
- A need to build initiative across a location
- An ownership-culture or participation priority
- A strategic challenge that needs frontline context
Product-pilot scope
- One intact operational team
- Approximately 12 to 20 people where practical
- Six weeks, optionally eight
- One responder and one backup
- A response expectation and weekly 15-minute review
Larger facilitated service
A broader engagement when the organization needs more than the product pilot.
This approximately 10 to 12-week service may include discovery, program design, facilitation, portfolio development, experiment preparation, and broader learning assessment. It remains available, but it is not the only pilot path.
- 01
Orient
Align the executive sponsor and internal program partner around one meaningful priority, scope, roles, and decision boundaries.
- 02
Discover
Listen to employees, managers, and executives; assess the current path from observations to implementation; configure the workspace.
- 03
Launch
Communicate the program, invite participation, surface employee knowledge, and facilitate focused idea-development sessions.
- 04
Prepare experiments
Develop a portfolio of credible ideas and turn selected opportunities into practical tests with owners and measures.
- 05
Begin and learn
Support initial experiments, review early evidence, and deliver an impact, learning, and expansion report.
Client responsibilities
Provide authority, access, and attention.
Name the sponsor and partner, select the priority and unit, make time for discovery and participation, maintain decision accountability, and support viable experiments.
Heirloom responsibilities
Design and operate the first cycle.
Assess the current path, configure the workspace, prepare communications, facilitate development, establish pathways, help plan experiments, and synthesize learning.
What success means
Credible learning and a repeatable path.
Success is not a guaranteed idea count or productivity result. It means the unit develops useful opportunities, begins practical tests where appropriate, and learns how to continue or expand the process.
Pilot FAQ
Practical questions before you begin.
How large is a supported product pilot?+
Start with one intact operational team, approximately 12 to 20 people where practical. A larger facilitated service can include a broader unit and additional program design.
How long does it take?+
The supported product pilot runs six weeks, optionally eight when the work needs another check-in cycle. A larger facilitated engagement may run approximately 10 to 12 weeks.
Does leadership give up decision authority?+
No. The pilot clarifies who contributes, who develops ideas, who evaluates them, and who owns each decision. Employee participation and accountable leadership reinforce one another.
What operating commitment is required?+
Name one responder and one backup, agree on a meaningful-response expectation, and protect a 15-minute weekly review. Heirloom keeps the record visible; the team supplies local authority and attention.
What happens after the pilot?+
The team reviews response coverage and time, voluntary repeat participation, Result understanding, and manager handling burden. It can continue, adapt the operating agreement, expand selectively, or stop with the learning preserved.