​This white paper, written by Grace L. Duffy, John W. Moran, and William Riley, was published on pages 2-4 of the August 2009 edition of the Quality Texas Foundation Update. In it, the authors define and describe Rapid Cycle PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) as the act of applying the recurring sequence of PDCA in a brief period of time to solve a problem or issue facing a team or organization in order to achieve breakthrough or continuous improvement results quickly. PDCA should be repeatedly implemented in spirals of increasing knowledge of the system to converge on the ultimate goal, each cycle closer than the previous one.